The Closest Thing to Magic
by HashtagLEH
Summary: Jack and Henley have looked forward to finding their soulmates all their lives. Merritt is more pessimistic, but willing to give it a try if they are. Danny is too afraid of them leaving him after they discover his secret, and wants nothing to do with a relationship. But the other three won't take no for an answer. (warnings inside)
1. Names

**This pairing isn't exactly my OT4, and to be perfectly honest I don't really care to write fics with more than three people in a relationship. But I read a couple of fics with this same idea and this pairing, so I decided to try my hand at it because I thought it'd be fun. And so far, it** ** _has_** **been! Hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it!**

 **Warning : I've decided that Danny has a mild form of autism in this. However, he also hates this fact, so there will be some trash talk about people with autism, which in no way reflects my thoughts on the matter. Danny hates himself, and – you've seen him in canon. He's more likely to blame any and everyone else around him for something he hates. I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but you have been fairly warned.**

 **Additional warnings: polyamory, implied sex, language, mentions of suicide**

 **(P.S. Go read "Finding a Puzzle" by Jillie_chan – it's about Merritt figuring out that Danny has autism, and it is** ** _sooo_** **good! It's the fic that made me want to have Danny with autism in this one. ;p)**

 **Also, quote isn't really a whole quote but a couple of meshed ones that I tweaked a bit.**

...

 _"Love is the closest thing we have to magic. It waves its wand over this world, and behold; everything is softer and more beautiful."_

...

Merritt McKinney didn't used to be such a pessimist. Which wasn't to say that he'd been a perfect ray of sunshine before, but when he was younger and he had no Names sprawling across any part of his body, he remembered being hopeful. By the time he got to high school, he had finally accepted that he just didn't have anyone special for him. These people were rare, the ones with no Names, but it did occasionally happen. Thus, Merritt had resigned himself to his fate and allowed himself to screw with anyone who was willing. After all, it wasn't going to cause trouble in some nonexistent future relationship, so what was the point staying a virgin for the rest of his life?

Having no soulmate also had the side effect of making him more observant as he watched people's reactions, wondering – did any of them lack a Name, too? What were they thinking? And thus, he had begun his interest in mental hypnosis.

He would be lying if he'd said that he didn't think about his no-Name status all the time. It had hurt, but he tried to move past it and find new ways to distract himself.

He remembered perfectly the day the first Name had bloomed under his skin. It had been the summer right after he graduated high school, and he was sitting on the back porch of his small apartment, drinking a beer and looking up to the stars. He'd made a little money with some street show mentalism acts, and it was enough to afford the dingy apartment in Florida. He and his brother were considering doing some sort of mentalism tour together, but that was still just talk at this point.

He'd been just lifting his arm to take another sip of his beer when he felt it – a warm, somewhat pleasant burning on his left forearm, right next to the crease of his elbow. He almost dropped his drink in surprise, but he caught it in time. But when he looked down at the source of the warmth, his attempt was for naught as he didn't even think to keep his hold on the glass bottle. Because just there, on his forearm right next to the crease of his elbow, where the warmth had come from, words had appeared, bending slightly towards his elbow in an almost tentative way, unassuming.

 _J. Daniel Atlas._

His breath hitched in surprise as well as joy when he saw the Name. He would never have expected… He didn't even care that his soulmate was apparently a man, and he'd never considered an attraction to men before. This was the one he'd been waiting for – the one he'd given up hope long ago in finding. Even though this man was almost twenty years his junior – apparently having just been born, as the scientists had figured out a couple hundred years ago – he was just grateful that there was finally, _finally_ someone for him.

A little under two years later, at the end of April while Merritt and Chase are beginning their tour, is when the second Name appears. It appeared in the night, so when Merritt was taking a shower the next morning and found _Henley Reeves_ in elegant script travelling on the right side of his ribs, he can't help the surprise he feels. He'd heard of having more than one soulmate, but that was rare – and he began to feel his first stirrings of doubt. He was so much older than these two – what would _either_ of them find in him, let alone _both_ of them? Why was there no one closer to his own age that would be his perfect match? His parents had been born on the same day, within mere hours of each other, and they'd always looked so perfect together. If Merritt ever went out with either of these two, would a passerby think that he was their _father_?

But he quickly pushed the thought from his mind, and reminded himself that to two people in love, other people's opinions should and would never matter to any of them. Of course, he wasn't particularly confident about the love aspect of this – he would settle for fondness from his other soulmates, even when he tried squashing down the hope that they would feel something more.

Besides, he thought – this Name. Was "Henley" a boy's name, or a girl's?

He'd assumed that the Names had been finished, that he had two soulmates – one a man, and one that could be a man _or_ a woman. But six and a half years later, exactly three weeks after his twenty-seventh birthday in which his stinking brother had stolen everything from him, the last Name appeared.

It was Christmas Eve, just a few minutes before midnight, and he was slouched in one of the ratty chairs in a hotel room he had barely been able to afford. He was quickly running out of money, and he suspected the IRS would be there soon, but by this point he didn't care. He would tell them the truth, sparing no details where Chase was concerned, but he was just…defeated.

And then he felt that pleasant warmth he'd felt several years previous, but this time it was on the inside of his left knee. He stared down at the Name, somehow able to feel a small flicker of joy through his betrayal.

 _Jack Wilder._ It wasn't the neatest handwriting, but it was _his_ , and his eyes flickered constantly over the carefree letters. A third soulmate? For _him_? It seemed impossible. But in the weak light, it was undeniable; he had three soulmates.

And then the joy was gone, replaced by crushing despair and hopelessness. He was twenty-seven years older than this kid. What could he _possibly_ have that this boy couldn't get from someone else? He had nothing – no money, no home…not even a job. He didn't expect to get off lightly with the tax boys, either – get on their bad side and the rest of your life was hell. He would probably never meet _any_ of his soulmates; after all, who would give a felon the time of day, whether it was his own fault or not?

He thought about the three Names inked biologically into his body. J. Daniel Atlas would be eight, likely going to a baseball game with a doting father who would sit him on his shoulders to see better. Henley Reeves would be six, and depending on his or her gender, would likely be playing with dolls or learning how to play catch in the backyard with the perfect white picket fence. Jack Wilder was likely being cleaned of placental fluids and wrapped in a blanket at this very moment. God, he felt like such a letch. His soulmates were _children_ , and he didn't imagine that any of them – let alone all three – would be too inclined to be involved with a man so much older than them. He'd be grey or bald or both by the time the oldest was even legal – or just approaching it, if he was lucky.

A knock came at his door, and Merritt didn't bother putting on some pants before getting up to answer it. He knew it would be the cops by now. He was surprised it had taken them this long – he hadn't even been hiding.

As he was led away in handcuffs, he thought to himself that he had a right to be pessimistic at this point. His life had just gone down the drain, and he didn't expect anyone – least of all his soulmates – to be able to fix it.

…

Henley Reeves was born with two Names on her body. She had grown up with her mother telling her excitedly of the joys of meeting your soulmate and falling so quickly in love it could give someone whiplash, so for as long as she could remember, she had always been excited for the day to finally come that she would meet them. Her mama had been nothing but encouraging and happy that Henley got the privilege of having two soulmates – those were rare, she said, so Henley was very special.

Sitting on the counter while her mama mixed cookie dough beside her and told her stories of what love was like, Henley liked to swing her feet, catching sight of _J. Daniel Atlas_ stretched neatly across the top of her right foot, curling just slightly toward her ankle. She loved the letters, and had known how to write those ones before she could spell her own name. The letters were so perfectly even and spaced, and she wondered at the type of person this "J. Daniel Atlas" was that his Name would be so perfect, because everyone knew that Names reflected that person's personality.

The second Name she had a harder time seeing, and had to turn her head a bit to look at. _Merritt McKinney_ was a Name that formed a crescent around her shoulder, and she thought it was just as pretty as "J. Daniel Atlas", even if she couldn't see it as easily. It wasn't better, but it was different. A small scar from a cooking accident made the letters "inne" raise slightly with the skin, but it was still able to be read, and she was glad for it. When she was four, she had been more distraught with the idea of the pretty Name being ruined than she had with the pain coming from the knife her mother had accidentally dropped when she ran into her while she was making dinner. She was glad though, that the words had been okay, and she checked it several times a day to make sure that it was still there, just as pretty as before.

When she was six, she was at a family party with her cousins, all of them sleepy but denying it. It was almost midnight, and it was almost time to go home, but they all insisted to their respective parents that they just _had_ to stay longer, because they hadn't had enough time to play yet. It mattered not a whit to them that they had all been playing since lunch.

Henley was standing by the Christmas tree, gazing with large eyes at the presents stacked underneath, when she felt it. A slow, pleasant warmth had begun burning in the outer side of her thigh, and she somehow knew that it was another Name appearing. Instantly wide awake, she began pulling off the white tights that had admittedly begun coming off of her for a couple of hours now while she'd been playing, and then lifted her green Christmas dress to see the words there as the warm glow began to fade. Her face lit with a delighted smile as she read the words _Jack Wilder_ so pretty on her leg. Kicking her tights and shoes to the side, she kept her skirt bunched up in her hands as she ran to find her mother.

"Mama! Mama!" she squealed excitedly, running up to her mother as she was saying her farewells to her sister and brother-in-law. She didn't notice the fondly exasperated look on her mama's face as she continued without waiting for acknowledgement. "I have another one! Look – on my leg!"

Her mother's face was shocked as she looked at the new Name on her daughter's leg, but she beamed at Henley when she saw that it was a real Name, and not just some kid writing the name on the leg for a joke or a prank. It had been known to happen that little children would become convinced that a name just written on them with Sharpie would make it a soul-bound Name. Sharpies were permanent, but not _that_ permanent. But the Name on Henley's leg was real.

"Congratulations, sweetheart!" her mother gave her a big hug and kissed her cheek. "Why don't you go show your Grammy? I'm sure she'd be _very_ excited for you."

With an excited bounce in her step, Henley followed her mother's directive, not noticing as her parents turned to each other with looks full of meaning.

…

J. Daniel Atlas was not a big believer in soul bonds. He knew that they existed, of course – after all, he had three Names on himself – but he didn't think that it was the _one_ person – or three, in his case – that would be able to make him the happiest. Sure, they might be compatible with the other or others, but surely someone else would be able to fit the bill just as well. Surely out of the seven _billion_ people in the world, someone else would be similar enough that they shouldn't have to isolate themselves to _only_ the person whose Name was printed somewhere on their body.

He had always been a logical person. He didn't like to fantasize, because when his imagination let him feel hope, it only made it that much more painful when that hope was ruthlessly crushed. So he _had_ to believe that soul bonds couldn't be the only option for romantic happiness – or any happiness, really – because he knew that if he hoped for the three people whose Name emblazoned themselves across different parts of his body, that it would never happen. It was like the reversed Midas touch – anything he touched or even hoped for would just go to shit.

So he kept it from his thoughts; tried not to hope. The Name _Henley Reeves_ wrapped beautifully around his left side, and the Name _Jack Wilder_ was visible any time he wore shorts, printed on the side of his calf as it was. So he wore long pants to deal with that problem, even when it was hot outside, because he didn't want to be reminded and he didn't want to feel hope.

It was the Name _Merritt McKinney_ that helped him the most – though to be fair, it was the raised scar that cut through the 'inne' of his last name that did it (though it could be argued that it wouldn't be nearly so special without the other man's Name there). The burn scar in a perfect circle, the exact size of a cigarette butt, was raised and not the best looking, but the Name underneath was still perfect. Daniel used the roughened skin to hide his need for stimming from anyone else; he hadn't been with his real parents for a whole week after they discovered he fell in the autism spectrum scale.

(He had been so young at the time, when they'd apologized that they weren't capable of raising an autistic child, and he couldn't understand why his need for control and his complete focus on some task that had been set out by himself or someone else would cause them to think they could do nothing but abandon him, sending him into the foster care system. He had learned later, in a place people called 'special education', that his parents had expected him to turn into some drooling, hand-flapping idiot who could barely talk, and he'd hated them. He'd been only seven when he came to this realization, but he _hated_ them. And he hated himself, because if he didn't have autism then he could be living happily with his parents, and it was _all his fault_ and it was something he couldn't control and that's when he had his first panic attack.)

So he couldn't let anyone find out he had autism. He wasn't treated the best as it was, but he was _smart_. He didn't want to go back to the class with the kids on the scale much farther ahead than he was. And he didn't want people to look at him like they expected _him_ to be one of them, either.

So when people saw him absentmindedly running the pads of his fingers along the scar, they only saw the Name underneath and smiled knowingly, supposing that the boy must be looking forward to meeting his soulmate, rather than keeping his mind aware and in the present by the touch.

He was so good at fooling people, that he almost fooled himself that this was nothing more than an idea of convenience to hide his secret. Because feeling any sort of hope at seeing the Name on the inside of his forearm would only lead to disaster.

…

He's lying in bed, half asleep but still thoughtful as he gazes down at his partly-clad body. For the first time in a long time, he's peaceful, rather than lost and sad. Simply…curious. Longing.

His fingers slowly trace over the marks he was born with, going in a repetitive pattern over the curling letters.

 _Henley Reeves_ – the one stretched across his right hipbone. He likes the way the letters curl and swoop like fancy calligraphy – beautiful, and with a self-assurance that makes them just slightly bigger than the other two Names.

 _Merritt McKinney_ – the one in careless but still somehow beautiful penmanship and a sharp halt at the 'y'. This one is on his breastbone, right over his heart. This one is in the smallest print, but confident, almost, with it stretched so brazenly over his heart. The letters on the skin are raised slightly in the middle of the 'inne', where a scar is noticeable but not detracting from the magnificence of the Name. He'd got the scar when he'd been stabbed a couple years back, and had been more worried about the Name being marred than the fact that he was bleeding out in an alley, but when he could finally see it after the bandages had been taken off after coming home from the hospital, he could see how the black letters had simply grown over the scar. It was like whatever power-that-be that made sure they knew who their soulmates were was making sure that he wouldn't forget the Name.

 _J. Daniel Atlas_ – the last one was the most unassuming, though no less magnificent than the other two. It was in neat, perfect handwriting, perfectly spaced and even, curling slightly inward towards his navel. Jack had always got the feeling from it that this one was the most hesitant. Confident in _himself_ , as illustrated by the perfect handwriting, but uncertain about letting anyone else in; it seemed like the slight curl toward his navel was like someone with arms half-raised, as though unsure whether a hug would be received well or not.

Jack traced this last Name repeatedly with a light finger, promising to himself for the millionth time that when he finally met this "J. Daniel Atlas", he is always going to accept and encourage any signs of affection from him.

With this last thought, he slowly and peacefully drifts off to sleep, dreaming of the day when he can finally meet the ones he knows he will love and be loved in return for the rest of his life.

…

 **And there we are, two people excited to meet their soulmates, and the other two stewing in self-hatred. I hope you liked it – I'll have the next chapter up soon!**


	2. The Meeting

He'd found a card in his pocket. It was a tarot card – the one for Death. There was a creepy ass skull on it that seemed alive, like it was going to leap out of the card if he stared at it too long. The location, date, and time on the back told him all he needed to know, and yet absolutely nothing at all. For example, why _Death_? That seemed pretty depressing, getting a card that would denote someone's demise. Not exactly the best way to invite someone to some secret event – especially when he had no clue how it'd got in his back pocket.

He sighed though, and decided to go to this secret meeting. If nothing else, it would break him from the monotony of his normal day.

Out of habit, he touched one of the Names for reassurance, this time it being Henley's, the one on his hip. With curiosity burning in his eyes, he walked down the street in the direction of the address indicated. He had just a few hours before he was supposed to be there.

…

Henley was as surprised as Danny appeared to be when they saw each other outside of the apartment building whose address was printed on each of their cards. They greeted each other warmly – or as warmly as Danny could manage, anyway – and then Danny began bossing her on what the plan was.

She sighed internally. Mom had always said how beautiful it was to fall in love with your soulmate, but she never said that it would be so difficult. When she'd found him at the age of twenty, she had been overjoyed and quickly began working as his assistant so that she could be around him more often. She knew that she didn't really _need_ to work for/with him, but she thought that it would be very boring to be somewhere without Danny when he was practicing for his magic show or performing for said show. And she'd wanted to get to know him more, so being around him as much as possible was the obvious answer.

But he never really showed much emotion when with her – he was always on his guard. She had waited patiently for a good year and a half, before she finally snapped and walked out. They'd both agreed that it wouldn't work with only the two of them, and they needed all four. Danny had seemed more like he was agreeing with her just to appease her, but nevertheless they'd parted ways. They'd email each other, but it had been about five years since they'd actually seen each other face to face.

And now he was acting exactly like he had before, bossing her around and showing no emotion whatsoever – not even fondness, let alone happiness to see her again. It was like he hadn't changed at all.

Still, _she_ was happy to see _him_ , so she didn't let it spoil her mood and made her way to apartment 6A.

…

Merritt had been waiting for several minutes – he didn't know for _what_ , but he was there on time, and he didn't appreciate being left there to linger – when he heard a man and woman's voices as the two walked up the stairs.

"…saw all your 'anonymous' postings on my website. Seriously, you couldn't have just sent me an email?"

A woman with red hair and a man with shaggy hair had appeared at the top of the stairs at the end of the hallway. The man started to say something, but they both stopped with startled "oh"s when they saw Merritt standing at the end of the hallway. Wordlessly, they raised a couple of the cards that looked like the one he'd gotten, raising their eyebrows inquiringly to ask if he'd gotten the same one.

"Oh," he said with a bit of surprise. "'Kay, so apparently none of us was the only one chosen; let me be the first one to kick my ego to the curb." He gave them a sort of self-deprecating smile, wondering again why he'd been given a meeting place and time, and more importantly, why he'd decided to go in the first place.

"Uh – excuse me," the man said dismissively, moving toward the door behind him.

"Door's locked," Merritt told him.

"Is it?" the man said in an arrogant, derisive sort of tone as he moved past him to the door anyway. "I'll check."

Merritt looked to the woman, noticing immediately her coffee cup with the name "Henley" scrawled on the side. "You!" he blurted, because this was the only Henley he'd ever actually met, so it must have been the one whose Name sprawled over one side his ribs. She was a woman, which he was happy about after finding two men's names, and she was _beautiful_.

He passed off his surprise though as he continued speaking, wanting to be sure that this was indeed the right Henley. "Now hold it – don't tell me," he said. "Helen?" she gave him a look, like 'really?' "No – _Henley_." He gave her a smile, unable to hold it inside anymore in his excitement, but managing to pass it off as a smug grin while she smiled a bit and gave a little nod.

"It's on your coffee cup," the man he'd mentally labeled as 'Dick' said behind him, leaning around him slightly to point at the name on the cup. Henley looked at her cup, and at her name on it, as she seemed to just remember she was still holding it, and then smirked amusedly at Merritt.

"Thanks for keeping me honest," he said with a mental sigh of exasperation but continuing, "That wasn't mentalism, by the way; that was an observation. The second observation: you are… _beautiful_."

Henley's smile grew more genuine, though tentative, as they didn't know each other. "Thank you," she accepted the compliment with grace.

"Now, I'm about to take a stab in the dark here," Merritt said, deciding to take a leap and hoping he wasn't wrong. "Your full name is Henley _Reeves_."

Her eyebrows raised in surprise at this, and she checked her coffee cup again as though the _last_ name was there, too. He couldn't stop the grin that stretched his lips with this response, though, because her surprise was all the answer he needed.

"Okay, that's good," Dick's voice said again behind him, and he had to stop the growl of annoyance. He'd met his first soulmate, and now dickhead was butting in. "Very – very nice, very well-polished; nice bit"—he was in front of him now, and putting out his hand—"uh – J. Daniel Atlas. Nice to meet you."

Merritt was able to carefully conceal his surprise at meeting both of his soulmates on the same day, and he looked Daniel over with a quick assessing eye before deciding he needed his ego squashed a bit. He put out his hand like he was going to shake the other man's hand, but at the last second turned it upwards to flip him off.

"Very nice," the other man said sarcastically, pulling his hand away with a roll of his eyes. "I know who you are, and I just wanted to say that I'm not interested in you doing your, uh – your little 'mentalism' thing."

Damn he was a dick. Soulmates or no, Merritt would not deal with this sort of shit from anyone. Especially because he knew who he was, and had still never tried finding him or _anything_. Clearly J. Daniel Atlas didn't give a shit about soulmates, or he wouldn't be acting in such a way with him or Henley, who he could tell he'd had a relationship with that hadn't ended well.

Atlas was continuing to speak, so Merritt put his hands out to shush him, making little _tsk_ ing noises to shut him up.

"Now, I'm sensing…you are…a control freak?" Merritt said mockingly.

"I'm sorry, have we _met_ before?" Atlas said with annoyed surprise.

Henley snorted. "It doesn't take a _mentalist_ to figure _that_ out," she said derisively, stepping closer to the both of them, and Merritt had to grin. "You _are_ a control freak."

"Well, I take that as a compliment," Atlas said with a smug smile, though Merritt sensed a slight flicker in the attitude, even as subtle as it was.

Henley scoffed annoyedly and looked to Merritt. "Only _he_ would take that as a compliment."

"Okay – great. Good! – another compliment," Atlas said arrogantly, and this time Merritt was certain he saw relief on the younger man's features. But why would he be relieved that he was known as a control freak?

That's it, he realized. He must have been hiding something bigger than that – some secret that the label of "control freak" would be able to cover. But what could _possibly_ be so bad that he'd be fine being known as a condescending jackass?

"Okay, so…" Merritt said, pointing his fingers slightly between the two, " _That's_ why you guys are no longer together."

Thus began a protest from both of them – Atlas looked matter-of-fact and unfeeling, but Henley looked hurt and sad while they talked something about trap doors. He could tell that there was more to the story of why they'd split, but he was certain that he'd find out later. And then he realized that he _still_ hadn't introduced himself. He'd been sidetracked with the news that Atlas had known who he was, but he didn't think that Henley knew. She looked at him the same way one would look at a stranger.

"Okay, so he never made you feel special," he summarized, speaking to Henley. "And trust me – you deserve…to be made _…_ to feel special." He was smiling at her, and she was smiling tentatively back, but the hurt was still present in her eyes. He was about to formally introduce himself to her when Atlas spoke again.

"That's a really…really nice story," he said, expression closed as he gave them a fake smile that never reached his eyes. "Hope you guys enjoy each other's company."

He turned to go, and Merritt was about to look back to Henley again, seeing what she thought of this, but then Atlas had stopped suddenly. Merritt looked up and saw a kid who couldn't have been more than twenty or so reach the top of the stairs, staring at all of them in surprise.

"No way," he said, gaze darting between them all. He was walking forward as though in a daze. " _J. Daniel Atlas_?" Merritt and Henley glanced at each other, wondering who the kid was, but Atlas just looked confused as he looked at the kid.

"Dude, I have seen everything that you've ever done, I mean…" Clearly the kid was a bit starstruck, something Merritt found somewhat annoying. "Your tricks…they inspired me. They're amazing."

"Oh, from a true fan," Atlas said arrogantly, putting out his hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah – I'm Jack, by the way." The kid still looked stunned while he shook his hand and then looked to Henley. "Henley Reeves," he said, surprising her that he knew her name. "I might be a bit biased, but I liked you as his assistant better than the girl from the past little bit."

Henley looked delighted with this news as she gave Atlas a triumphant smile. Jack didn't notice this as he looked at Merritt, and his smile grew wider and yet still somehow – embarrassed?

"I tried that mentalism thing, but it was so fucking hard," he confessed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I tried watching some of your videos to see how you did it, but there wasn't a lot because of when it happened, and then the best I could find was your book, but…" he shrugged a little. "I got too many people coming after me when it wouldn't work, so I figured I should stop."

Merritt was surprised that the kid even knew who he was – typically only people around his own generation knew him, and those numbers were becoming less and less as time went on. He also remembered the Name on his own knee – _Jack Wilder_. Was this the same Jack? It seemed crazy enough to meet one of his soulmates, and then there were two, but _three_? And then two of them knew who he was? He must have been dreaming. That's it – he'd had too much to drink, and his brain had conjured up a mystery card for him to meet a few strangers in New York, and he just _happened_ to have met all three soulmates in less than five minutes?

Time to test this theory.

"Question," he said, raising the tarot card in his hand and pointing at it. "Did _you_ get one of these?"

"Uh – yeah! Yeah," Jack said, blinking as he came back to himself. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card that looked similar enough to theirs that they had all clearly been made by the same person. He gave them an uncertain sort of smile and a shrug, saying, "Death."

Henley raised her own card. "The High Priestess," she said with a smile.

"I'm the Lover," Atlas volunteered with an attitude like he was rolling his eyes.

Henley coughed. "Three minutes," she said with a complete lack of subtlety – not that she was trying. Merritt's lips twisted at the apparently well-known news of Atlas' sleeping around enough that something like that was known, but he lifted his own card, anyway.

"Hermit," he volunteered, still uncertain whether this was all just a dream or not.

"So what are we…" Jack started, looking around at them with confusion and curiosity. "Are we waiting for someone? Why are we just…?"

"The door's locked," Henley and Atlas said with a shrug from each of them.

Jack looked surprised and disbelieving. "Oh – no," he denied, "Nothing…nothing's ever locked."

As he spoke, he moved past them, crouching in front of the door and picking a couple of tools from his pocket. Merritt watched with the other two in surprise and admiration – at least on his part – as the kid had the door unlocked in less than five seconds. He'd done it as easily as if there had been an actual key inserted.

Merritt didn't pay too much attention to what everyone said inside the apartment. He followed along the conversation with his own comments, but mostly he was evaluating everyone else's reactions to each other. Jack was like a little puppy, looking hopefully between all of them like he was waiting for something. Maybe he expected them to recognize him, for some reason. Merritt didn't think he was anything more than a street con – not really a whole lot of magic like Atlas and Henley, and to an extent him. Henley was mostly following Atlas, but she would glance at the other two curiously and confusedly from time to time. Atlas was acting…oblivious. That was the best word Merritt could find for it, even though he was almost positive that Atlas knew what was going on. It was like he was ignoring the situation and everyone in it, but not in a way that was…awkward, he supposed. But more like he really didn't care that he was with two, most likely three of his soulmates.

Well. If that's what he wanted, then fine. Merritt had known for years that no one would want to be with him, even his soulmates – he was too old, and a felon, and they had a lot more going for them than he did. It still hurt that he was unwanted, but it was nothing less than he'd expected.

…

Everyone seemed to be following everyone else's lead for a few weeks after that. They all pretended that they weren't each others' soulmates, but rather some new acquaintances that were building friendships with each other. Merritt and Danny were the ones that hid themselves, closing themselves off emotionally so that they wouldn't have to be worried about being rejected by the ones considered their soulmates. Henley kept looking expectantly between Danny and the other two boys, while Jack just looked increasingly lost and sad with every passing day.

Even Merritt, for all his talent in reading people, didn't notice or comprehend how his actions – and the actions of Danny – were hurting the two youngest members of their group. Lost in his own sorrow and pity, he didn't look at any of them much – only enough to start following the plans on the blueprints with them. He was too afraid to see a standoffish dismissal of him if he looked too closely at the others. It wasn't something he followed on a conscious level, but he had assumed for long enough that his apparent soulmates wouldn't want or need him that he didn't want to see the confirmation of this fact that he was sure would be in their postures and facial expressions.

Danny, on the other hand, had never been in any way talented at reading basic social cues, so he just assumed that since no one said anything, that no one wanted it. It was nothing less than what he'd expected. He saw Merritt flirting with Henley, and that was the end of that. Of course she would want the mentalist over the control freak with focus issues, and of course the mentalist didn't care to give _him_ the time of day. Not when he had the beautiful redhead instead. He saw Jack as only loving them because he was a fan – but nothing more than that, surely. He just wanted to be better at magic.

Henley, meanwhile, only watches Daniel with increasing agitation as the days go by. They'd said, that after they'd split those years ago, that they could wait until they were _all_ together, because then it would work. Then they would truly be able to have the relationship they were supposed to have. And now that they were all there, she didn't understand why Danny was holding back. She didn't understand why he just didn't seem to _care_ that they were all supposed to be together, because why shouldn't someone want to be happy? She was trying to give him time, certain that Merritt and even Jack would see this and try to help, but her patience was beginning to wear thin. She _wanted_ this, dammit, and she couldn't understand why they weren't at least _trying_ by then.

And Jack? As far as Jack knew, he assumed that they didn't want this relationship. It tore at his heart every day when they all ignored the elephant in the room with an ease that made it seem like they were comfortable with it. He saw Henley watching Danny constantly, and thought that she was only interested in him. Merritt flirted with Henley – if the sexual innuendos could be called flirting – but he never did with him or Danny, as far as he could tell. But unlike with Henley and Danny, he thinks that this is just Merritt, flirting shamelessly with women when he got the chance. It just so happened that he was around Henley most of the time, so she took the brunt of the innuendos. And Danny…he just didn't care. He had the role much like a boss would – impersonal, and blunt.

So clearly, none of them wanted him, Jack concluded. His hope that this might work out between them was gradually fading by the day as nothing changed, and they had all the interaction of some co-workers, rather than soulmates whose Names had been branded on him for twenty years. And all he could do was resign himself to it.

So, all four of them, because of their lack of communication, all misunderstood the situation and each other. Luckily, redheads were known for having a short fuse, so it wasn't long before Henley finally snapped.

 **...**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	3. The Deal With Danny

**I got my permanent crown on one of my teeth today, and I'm getting my wisdom teeth out in less than twelve hours. The day after that I have an appointment with the OB/GYN, which is the same day I have my "full moon". On Friday, I have my general doctor's check-up. In short, it's going to be an awful next several days and the only bright spot I can find is the amount of fanfic ideas and inspiration I've been getting lately for the NYSM fandom, which I can then share with you guys. I can't tell you guys how grateful I am for your feedback and support! Thank you so much!**

 **...**

Jack hadn't realized that the other three were at the apartment in New York when he woke up. They had agreed to meet there at noon to talk over blueprints again, and since they all had their own apartments in the area, they all slept back there. Having lived mostly on the streets, outside of the odd hotel room he might stay in when he got enough money from pickpocketing, at nights he had been sleeping on the only bed in the apartment. He just hadn't realized how late he'd slept in until he went to the kitchen wearing only a pair of sleep pants that hung low on his hips and the others were there in the connecting living room, talking quietly to each other.

"Hey," he greeted them tiredly, turning to the cupboards to find the box of cereal he'd bought a couple of days before. Finding it, he went to the fridge to grab the milk.

"Jackie boy!" Merritt greeted in a buoyant, far too awake tone. "Nice of you to join us!"

"Sorry," Jack said with a yawn, pouring the cereal and milk into a bowl while his back was turned to them. "Stayed out late last night, and forgot to take down the blackout curtains from practicing yesterday. I still need to get an alarm clock."

"It's alright, Jack – we were just getting started," Henley assured him. "Grab that stool over there if you want to sit down – the extra chair over here broke earlier."

"Hm," Jack said in sleepy acknowledgement, picking up his bowl in one hand and grabbing the stool by the kitchen counter with the other. "We still figuring out the plans for Paris?"

"Yes; we should be ready to hop on a plane by the middle of May, if we stay on schedule," Danny reported. Jack didn't notice how Henley had fallen silent, staring as he set the stool down between the loveseat and the chair, located in the same way as a seat at the head of a table. Her eyes tracked over the three Names all visible on his torso – the one over his heart, the one to the left of his navel, and the one on his right hip.

"We don't have instructions for who exactly to dupe," Danny went on, "So we'll just end up picking someone there."

"So brush up on your pickpocketing," Merritt inputted, eyes lingering on his own Name before he forced his eyes away.

Jack sighed and scooped up a spoonful of corn pops. "I will, but not because I need to 'brush up' on it," he retorted. "It's kind of the only way I can get any food, so I've had it down to a T for a _long_ time now." He shoved the spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"Alright, just as long as you don't get soft," Danny instructed, and Jack's lips twisted slightly in a scowl, fist tightening its grip on his spoon, before he visibly forced himself to calm down and he silently continued eating his cereal.

"We're not sure how long it's going to take, either," Danny went on obliviously. "So we'll be getting one-way tickets there, just in case. We should have enough money for a couple of weeks there if we stay in some cheaper hotel rooms, but we may need to do a couple of acts ourselves to get in some extra money if we need to stay longer than that. After we're done with that, we should be able to get Tressler interested, and we can check back in France to see if our plan worked on the one we picked, but if not, we'd have to plan on hitting someone harder the next time, because Tressler shouldn't get too suspicious at that long trip to France, and we don't want any questions asked, so if we can get someone the first time, it'd be easier…"

"Dammit, Danny – just shut _up_!" Henley finally burst out, surprising them all with the sudden explosion of anger. Jack jerked, startled at the sudden burst of noise, and spilled milk and some cereal on his pajama pants. He said nothing though, watching in surprise while Henley rose from her seat and began berating Danny.

"I don't know what's going on in your head, but we said when we broke up that it would be until we could be with the rest of our soulmates, and now you're acting just the same as you did! What the _hell_ is keeping you?!"

"I'm not…" Danny started, but Henley cut him off.

" _No_ , Daniel! We are _soulmates_ , not your co-workers, or God forbid – your _employees_!" And then she spun to face Merritt, pointing a finger at him now. "And _you_! You're supposed to be the mentalist – you should know how much Jack and I, at least, want all of us to be together! If his walking in shirtless to show all of his Names didn't clue you in to anything, then I don't know what the hell you've been doing to convince people you can read them so well! You're holding back for some _ungodly_ reason, and I'm sick of it. From _both_ of you!" she pointed between both of them. "We were _clearly_ meant to be together for some reason, and I'm tired of you two dismissing it! I've looked forward to this for _too_ long to let it get away from me because of stupid – male – _egos_!" She was fuming, and now she turned to grab her jacket from where she'd draped it over the armrest, roughly pulling it on.

"You guys can figure out your shit, or I'm out of this," Henley vowed. "You think I joined in these magic tricks for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – for some sort of admittance into a secret organization? Think again. I stayed here because I wanted to be with my soulmates. But if you guys don't want that, then I'm leaving – and to _hell_ with these magic tricks!" With that, she walked over to the door, opening it and stepping out into the hallway, leaving the boys behind.

Merritt sat there, stunned at what he'd heard but showing none of his shock on his face. He hadn't even realized…he didn't know that Henley – and apparently Jack – wanted to be with him. He hadn't known that it had been Danny that she had apparently been waiting for, but apparently he was missing a lot of things. He thought back to his casual flirting with Henley, and realized that her smiles were just a touch too wistful, a little bit too wide – like she was trying to encourage him. She'd been trying to let him know that she wanted to be with him in a way she was sure he would understand – by the facial expressions and body language – and he'd been completely oblivious.

Danny sat there, not surprised by the words but rather sad. He didn't want to risk a relationship that they'd drop him from after they discovered his autism, but he didn't want Henley to leave, either. By keeping his relationship with the other three to a friendly but somewhat professional level, he'd hoped that he could be with them but keep them at arm's length, so that he could be happy in their presence but not be hurt so much when they inevitably left. He knew how relationships worked; he'd read books. In a romantic relationship, they would talk more, and they would be closer, and his secret would be revealed sooner. But in a friends-only relationship, he thought he might be able to keep them with him longer. Friends didn't expect each other to bare their souls to the other, after all – but in any working relationship, there were no secrets.

Jack just sat there on his stool, blinking in surprise at what Henley had said. He hadn't realized that she'd wanted a relationship with _all_ of her soulmates, too caught up in his own hurt feelings at the lack of response from anyone. He hadn't known that Henley had simply been waiting for Danny's rejoinder for a go-ahead. He hadn't realized that she had noticed how desperately he wanted the relationship as well.

He didn't know how long they sat there, surprised and mulling over Henley's words, but when he came back to himself he realized that his cereal was growing soggy and his sleep pants were growing uncomfortable with the milk soaking them. Muttering something about changing his pants, he rose to his feet, keeping the bowl steady so that he wouldn't spill more of it out the sides.

He put his bowl in the sink, no longer hungry, and went to his bedroom, taking his time with getting dressed, in the hopes that Merritt and Danny would talk a bit while he was gone.

But when he came out of his room, Merritt was standing in the kitchen, not doing anything, so apparently waiting for him to come out.

"I realize that I'm the mentalist here," Merritt said before Jack could say anything. "But I really hadn't realized that anyone else _wanted_ to be in a relationship with any of us – let alone me. But – I do think that Henley was right, that you want it as much as she apparently does."

Jack nodded wordlessly, confirming his words and Henley's, by extension.

"I'm younger than everyone here," Jack said, "So I've had my Names on me since I was born. I…well, it was all I really had, growing up." He shrugged as though it didn't matter, but it really, really did. "But I get it, that we're all too young for you. You probably already had a whole life before you got any Names. And…" he glanced over at Danny, who was still sitting at the couch and staring at the blueprints as though nothing had happened. "I think, from what Henley said, that Danny just doesn't _want_ a relationship."

"Well, tough," Merritt said definitively. "He's outnumbered. We'll _make_ him want it."

"You…" Jack blinked in surprise, and then shook his head slightly as though to clear it. " _You_ want a relationship, too?"

"Of _course_ I do," Merritt said firmly. "I may be a grumpy old man, but I _did_ wait eighteen years for the first Name to show up. As long as you guys want me, I'm taking all I can get."

Jack couldn't help the smile that stretched across his face – not that he tried to. Impulsively, he reached up, grabbing Merritt's neck and bringing his head down a bit for a deep kiss. Merritt responded favorably, but eventually they had to stop because they were both grinning too broadly.

"Well," Jack said slightly breathlessly, forehead pressing with Merritt's. "Now it's time to convince Danny."

"You're not going to make me do _anything_ ," Danny said, not looking up from the blueprints as they parted, walking over to him. "You guys and Henley can do whatever you like with each other, but leave me out of it."

Jack and Merritt both raised an eyebrow in unison with the other. Jack was the one to speak, though Merritt looked in full agreement, now that he had been assured that he was not the only one who wanted this.

"Look," Jack told him, pulling up his own shirt above his navel. " _Look_ ," he insisted when Danny continued his reading. Finally, in irritation, Danny obeyed, if only to get him to stop talking. Jack stabbed a finger at the Name _J. Daniel Atlas_ on his stomach.

"See that?" he demanded. "That means that I'm yours, as much as you're mine." He pushed down the waist of his pants enough that Henley's Name was completely visible on his hip. "That? That means Henley and I belong to each other. And this one"—he moved his shirt up farther so that Merritt's Name over his heart was visible—"means that Merritt and I belong to each other.

"So you _can't_ tell us to leave you out of this," Jack said firmly. "Because _all_ of us are _literally_ connected by soul. Without you, we're not complete."

"I'm sure you'll manage just fine," Danny said flatly, and only Merritt noticed how his eyes flickered with something dark before he looked again at the damn blueprints.

Jack looked so frustrated he looked like he might blow his top off, but he kept his anger in check. Abruptly he pushed the papers off of the crate-turned-table, ignoring Danny's indignant, "Hey!" and moving over to straddle his lap. Danny stopped moving suddenly, completely still while Jack put his hands on the couch behind him and leaned over him, looking him directly in the eyes.

"Focused on me now?" he said dryly, and didn't wait for an answer. "Good. Just _stop_ worrying about the plan for one goddamned minute. We all know that you have some secret you're keeping – just like we all do. And _I_ can personally say that I don't give a rat's ass what it is, because _I_ will at least want you either way. I think Merritt and Henley are probably the same, but you'll have to ask them.

"My point is that we don't know each other. Not personally. But clearly we're supposed to be with each other, and I can honestly say that the knowledge I'd have soulmates in the future is the only thing that's kept me alive this long. So I don't _know_ you, but I _do_ love you."

"You love the _idea_ of love," Danny threw back, finally able to find his voice. "And because my Name is on you, you've chosen me as one of the people to project it onto. And it only goes to further illustrate your young age and immaturity, showing quite clearly that you aren't even ready for an _actual_ relationship. And if that's fine with Merritt and Henley, then great. You can go play house with them. But as for me, I want _no_ part in it."

Merritt plopped onto the loveseat beside Daniel and Jack. "You say that as though we have a choice in the matter," he commented. "You want to talk about age? I'm older than all of you, so I think I understand a bit more about the Names than anyone else does. And I can say with certainty that I've never met someone who cheated on the other when they were soulmates. And I've met a lot of cheaters. So what makes their love any stronger than ones who are matched with someone _other_ than their Name?"

"How about this," Jack suggested as Danny was opening his mouth to protest again. "We'll have a trial run. We'll all be in this relationship, you can test it out, and it'll be just like it would be if it was the real thing. And after the trial, if you decide you really don't want it, then…" he hesitated, and then said reluctantly, "Then we'll let you go."

Danny peered at him through slightly suspicious eyes for a moment, looking for a trick or a loophole that the other might be trying to exploit, before he asked, "How long would this fake relationship have to go on?"

Merritt sat back, seeing that Danny had already accepted this and smiling to himself in satisfaction and not a little bit of excitement.

Jack looked at Danny – sternly, he wanted to say. Which was odd, because Jack was the youngest, and what right did he have to boss him around?

"It's a _real_ relationship," he insisted, "But for a shorter time. Like dating."

"How long?" Danny repeated, deciding not to argue about semantics.

"Two months," Jack decided.

" _Two_ _ **months**_?" Danny squawked in protest. "No – _one_!"

"Six weeks," Jack compromised, and put a finger to Danny's lips when he opened his mouth to argue again. "And _no less_ ," he insisted. "You said mid-May would be when we'd be ready to go to Paris, so let's say after we get back then you can decide whether or not you want to leave. And you _have_ to be committed, because you have to see what it would really be like to be with us. We're not going to deal with you having one foot in and one foot out. That also means no sex with other floozies you might find in a street magic show." He smirked a little. "You want any sex, and it's with _us_."

Danny swallowed through a dry throat at the look Jack was giving him, and couldn't find it in himself to protest. It's not like it would do any good, he told himself, so what was the point in trying?

Jack nodded with satisfaction when Danny didn't make a sound or look of protest – a wordless agreement to his proposal.

"Good," he said smugly. "Now, I know you like lists and plans, so how about this? First thing, I'm going to kiss you. Then, Merritt is going to kiss you. And when Henley comes back, _she_ is going to kiss you. And then we will all kiss each other, and I _know_ you are going to like it."

And so, they did just that.

...

 **Thanks for reading - hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon!**


	4. Never Have I Ever

After it had forcibly been made aware to him that Henley and Jack wanted a relationship of all four of them, Merritt made it his mission to discover what it was that was keeping Danny from wanting a relationship.

See, that was the problem. After he'd realized that his affection and advances wouldn't be spurned by two of his soulmates, he had watched the last one and seen that he did want it. Danny did want a relationship with the three of them, even through his claims that soulmates didn't have to mean anything to each other, and he wanted nothing to do with the idea. If his facial expressions and that dark, secretive look in his eyes hadn't proved it, then his response to their kissing did it. Merritt had felt against his own lips how Danny had seemed to hold back, wanting to deepen the kiss and respond favorably, but instead pulling back after a few moments where the kiss didn't move beyond chaste.

He saw in the coming several days, as they continued their plans, how Danny would sometimes look fondly at Jack or Henley when he thought no one was looking. Dare he say it, but Merritt thought that it might be love, rather than just fondness…but after another few moments, his expression would shift into something like loathing – but loathing for himself. He would look down, eyes dark, focusing on whatever he had been doing just beforehand, as though he needed a way to distract himself.

As he continued to watch the younger man, he would notice more things. Such as how he seemed more stressed when one of them would tell some story of their past. Or how when he was nervous, he rubbed his fingers over Merritt's Name on his arm. Or how he would sometimes clench and unclench his fingers when something was out of place, as though he was trying to resist putting it back to rights.

Finally, he decided that what they really needed, the four of them, was some pizza and beer so that they could talk and get to know each other better.

"Hey, Jack!" he called, knocking haphazardly on his door. "We're getting pizza – what do you like?"

Jack opened the door, squinting at him like he was going to pass judgement on him if he said the wrong thing.

"Where's the pizza coming from?" he asked.

"Hm – probably Pizza Hut," Merritt shrugged. "It's just real casual, not like the typical NYC pizzas."

"'Kay, good," Jack seemed relieved. "Not really in the mood for a typical New York pizza. Um – I like pepperoni and pineapple best, but really I could eat anything."

"Nah, you're getting your own pizza, so you pick whatever you like. Henley!" he called, walking into the living room before Jack could respond. "What toppings on your pizza?"

"Pepperoni, ham, sausage, and bacon," she said distractedly, writing something in her notebook before looking up sharply as she realized what he'd asked her. "Are we having that for dinner tonight?"

"Yeah – and beer," Merritt confirmed, and looked at Danny inquiringly. "What'd you want?"

"Erm – chicken, pineapple, and jalapeños," Danny decided, tapping his pen to his lip. "With thin crust."

"Alrighty, I'll just call in the order," Merritt said, pulling out his cell phone.

"Get a thing of Sprite, too," Henley said, looking back down at her notebook.

Merritt snorted as he held the phone up to his ear, waiting for the other end to pick up. "I'll get that when I go to get the beer. Pizza Hut charges an arm and a leg for their sodas." He turned the speaker to his mouth when the other end apparently picked up. "Hi! I'd like four of your medium pizzas…"

Jack plopped down on the couch next to Henley, putting his arm up on the back of it so that it was just behind her.

"So, you're a meat lover?" he said with a crooked grin. "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting that."

Henley snorted and shoved him slightly in the side in a playful manner. "At least I don't like such atrocities as pineapple on my pizza like you and Danny here."

Jack adopted an affronted expression and pressed a hand to his chest. "Atrocity?" he repeated with an exaggerated gasp of offense. "I'll have you know that the real 'atrocity' on pizza is sausage. Honestly, sausage is so nasty that it doesn't belong on anything. Same for ham, but that one's the lesser of two evils."

"You don't like ham or sausage?" Henley gasped, sitting up and abandoning her notebook. "What kind of freak of nature are you?"

Jack laughed and explained, "It's just so…oily. Like with fat. I suppose the taste is okay, but it's made me sick enough times that I steer clear of it."

"Yes, so of course pepperoni is the best option," Henley said sarcastically. "The meat that is so fake that it doesn't even need to be refrigerated."

They argued amicably for a few more minutes before Merritt reappeared, slipping his phone into his pocket as he came in.

"I'm gonna pick up some beer and Sprite – I'll get the pizza on the way back," he reported. "So Danny, Henley – after I walk through that door again, there will be no more planning done for the rest of the night. So get anything you need done tonight before I get it back."

"Yes, sir!" Henley saluted him playfully, in a bantering mood after her teasing argument with Jack.

"Sure, Merritt," Danny said, and immediately turned back to his plans.

When Merritt got back, Jack and Henley both had to drag Danny away from his plans with numerous kisses, and Merritt took the opportunity of his distraction to pick up the papers and move them to the farthest counter from them. At least Danny hadn't appeared too upset when he realized what had happened. He didn't even resist when Merritt dragged his head over for a kiss of his own.

"So, Merritt, this was your plan," Henley said, pulling a piece of pizza out from her own box. "What are we doing while we eat?"

"I was thinking a game of 'Never Have I Ever'," Merritt said with a smirk, popping the top off of his beer. "Good way to get to know each others' dark, hidden secrets."

Jack laughed. "You mean sexual exploits?" he said with a raised eyebrow, biting into his pizza.

"That too," Merritt said airily, before pulling out his own slice of pizza. "Who wants to go first?"

"Wait, I always get mixed up with the rules, since so many people play it differently," Henley said. "Can you explain them again?"

"If you haven't done something, but think someone else might have, you say 'never have I ever…' and then something like 'gone skinny dipping'," Jack explained. "Anyone who has done it puts a finger down."

"The one with the most fingers up when the first person's fingers are all down is the winner," Merritt elaborated, and then smirked. "Or the loser, depending on how you look at it."

"Okay, I have one," Jack said, shoving the last bite of his pizza into his mouth and taking the next slice. "Never have I ever smoked in the high school bathroom."

"You didn't?" Henley was the one to voice her surprise. "But I've seen you smoke before. When did you start smoking?"

He chuckled at her dumbfounded expression. "I was probably about twelve when I first tried smoking, but it's not a habit or an addiction for me. Besides"—he took a swig of his beer—"I never went to high school."

"What?!" Henley choked slightly on her pizza. "But – you're so smart! How could you not have gone to high school?!"

He chuckled again. "I'm street smart," he corrected. "I don't know the Pythagorean Theorem." He shrugged carelessly. "When I was a kid I was tossed around in so many different foster homes that I didn't want to deal with it anymore by the time I was a teenager. So when I was thirteen, I ran away and started living on the streets." He smirked wryly. "That's where I learned how to be quick and unnoticeable, picking up a few magic tricks along the way." Nodding to Danny, he said, "I saw Danny running a Three Card Monte when I was about ten, still in foster care, and I remembered it after I got out. Figured it'd be an easy way to earn money, though it definitely wasn't the safest option when I scammed some bigger people than me out of their money."

"Okay, my turn," Merritt said, and then smirked and continued smugly, "Never have I ever been hit on by someone old enough to be my parent."

"Aww – low blow!" Jack chided with a laugh as they all had to put down a finger. Merritt only laughed and nodded to Danny for him to go.

"Alright…um, never have I ever been to a music concert," he finally decided on. His smile grew smug when Merritt and Henley both had to put a finger down.

"Neither of you have?" Merritt said in surprise. "Why not?"

Both of them shrugged.

"Living on the streets; not a lot of money to spare for a concert," Jack said, then looked at Danny.

"Foster care," Danny explained, looking uncomfortable. Merritt tilted his head slightly. That was only part of the reason, he could tell. There was more to it than that.

Jack smiled sympathetically at Danny. "Foster care sucks," he said feelingly, receiving a wordless nod of agreement from the older man.

"Did either of you go to even one good family?" Henley asked them, looking distressed with the idea of two of her soulmates having such awful childhoods.

"It's not so much that they were bad," Jack said, fiddling with his beer bottle, "It's just that most of them didn't care. Especially if they had real kids. Foster kids are more a source of income, you know?" Danny nodded again, volunteering nothing, but it was enough of an explanation from him.

"There was one family that I really liked," Jack remembered. "I was probably four or five, and they were a couple probably about thirty-ish without kids of their own. I had a birthday there, and they threw a party for me, with cake and presents and everything." His fond smile turned slightly bitter. "But then she got pregnant, so they couldn't deal with me anymore."

"Given away the same as a dog to the pound," Danny murmured, eyes fastened on a piece of pineapple that had fallen off his pizza into the box. Jack nodded tightly, both of them understanding the feeling.

Henley glanced at Merritt before she leaned forward and snagged another piece of pizza from her box. "Okay, my turn," she announced, shaking the room from its edgy mood. "Hm…never have I ever kissed someone of the same sex as me."

"No fair!" Merritt was the one to protest this time, though he was grinning as all three of the boys put a finger down.

"Not even experimenting in college?" Danny questioned curiously, looking at Henley.

She laughed. "Nope," she said honestly. "I knew I'd be ending up with three men, so I didn't feel the need to see if I would like kissing a girl. There wasn't really any point."

"Fair enough," Jack decided. "Okay…never have I ever had a near-death experience."

"Does considering suicide count?" Merritt questioned as carelessly as though he was asking if someone wanted mustard on their sandwich.

"Depends on how far you went to try and get there," Jack said after a moment where he tried to get over the pain at the thought of not knowing Merritt because he'd killed himself.

"Hm – then I'd say I'll keep my finger up," Merritt decided, and looked at the finger that Henley had put down. "What happened for you?"

"I was trying to perfect a flame throwing trick," Henley explained, "Ended up burning my hands some and lit my hair on fire…" she shuddered in remembrance. "I didn't pass out or anything, but if Danny hadn't been the only one there with the presence of mind to grab a fire extinguisher, my scars would be a lot more visible." She smiled thankfully at Danny and took his hand in her own gloved one. Merritt figured the gloves must have been covering the burn scars.

"What about you, Jack?" Merritt asked sardonically, noticing how the youngest had also put a finger down. "You know you're supposed to do one where you don't have to put your own finger down."

Jack shrugged. "Seemed like it'd make for better stories though, and that is the point of this game," he explained, and then went on with his own story. "I pissed off a street gang. They tried killing me, but the guy with the knife had a really bad aim – probably because I'd got him in the eyes when I threw my playing cards at him – and he missed my heart by almost an inch. Got a nasty scar from it, though your Name stayed intact, so that was a plus."

"Hey, I have a scar through his Name, too!" Henley laughed a bit. "Although mine isn't nearly so exciting a story. When I was four I ran into my mom when she was cooking and she accidentally dropped the knife she was holding. I was more concerned about the Name being ruined than I was about bleeding out on the kitchen floor."

"What about you, Danny?" Jack joked. "You have a scar through Merritt's Name also?"

Everyone was surprised when he nodded. At their looks, he explained reluctantly, "One of my foster parents stubbed out his cigarette on it." He didn't explain further, but his words had the effect of sobering the room instantly.

"We aren't drunk enough for this," Merritt declared suddenly after a few moments. "Drink up, guys. It's my turn again. Hm…" he tapped his chin thoughtfully before smirking. "Never have I ever used a fake ID and then forgotten my new name." Jack and Henley put fingers down.

"I'm putting a finger down on pretty much every round!" Henley complained with a laugh, taking another bite of pizza. "Choose some better ones, guys!"

"Okay, my turn," Danny said, wiping his greasy fingers on a napkin and swallowing his pizza. "Never have I ever eaten a whole pizza by myself."

"Danny!" Henley rebuked with a laugh as she had to put another finger down. "I said to pick better ones! I only have four fingers left!"

Danny chuckled and put his hands up. "I assumed that would be one that you'd get to keep a finger for."

"I think I should be offended by that likely sexist comment, but I'm too buzzed to care," Henley decided, and took another gulp of beer. "My turn, though – and you're going down, Atlas. Never have I ever had sex with more than one person at once." Danny and Merritt put their fingers down.

"That'll change for you soon, though!" Merritt laughed with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows. Henley laughed and threw her pizza crust at him.

"Okay, I'll do an easy one," Jack said, brushing his fingers of their crumbs so he could pick up his beer bottle. "Never have I ever ridden a horse."

"Et tu, Jack?!" Henley chided with a laugh, putting a finger down.

"That gives me an idea, though," Merritt inputted, chuckling at her. "Never have I ever pretended to speak a foreign language that I didn't actually know." Only Jack was the one to put a finger down.

"Spill!" Henley insisted, clapping her hands excitedly. "What language, and why?"

"I tried French once, and I think Greek another time," Jack remembered. "Mandarin, too. It was mostly if I was in that part of New York, and I was ordering food or something of the like. I repeated what the person ahead of me said." He shrugged. "It wasn't so much to look like I knew the language, but to practice my mimicry with other languages, to get the inflections right even if I couldn't understand what I was saying." He smirked and raised his beer to his lips. "I got it down after that pretty well."

"Okay – never have I ever eaten at Olive Garden," Danny said. He smiled smugly when all three of them put their fingers down, and took another bite of pizza.

"Olive Garden is the best," Henley said solemnly. "We're all going to go there on a date sometime soon, because to not have tasted the miracle that is Olive Garden is a true crime."

"You know it's not real Italian, right?" Danny raised an eyebrow at her.

"Pizza Hut isn't real pizza, but it's still delicious," she retorted, and took another bite of pizza to illustrate her point. "Okay, my turn. Never have I ever broken a bone."

"Boring!" Merritt booed as the boys all put a finger down.

"But I keep a finger up!" Henley sang, waving her two remaining fingers in the air with a laugh.

"Okay…never have I ever slept with a married person," Jack said with a smirk. He laughed as Henley and Merritt both scowled playfully at him with their remaining one fingers left, while Danny just chuckled, as even with the loss of a finger he had the most at four.

"Never have I ever slept with twins," Merritt announced, and only Danny put a finger down.

"You are both going down," Danny vowed. After a moment of thought, he smirked and said, "Never have I ever hated the name my parents gave me."

"Danny!" Henley screeched with a laugh as both she and Merritt had to put down their last fingers.

"You trying to say their names are too weird to be liked?" Jack teased with a laugh.

"As for me, whenever I had the thought that I didn't like my name, I consoled myself with the thought that at least it wasn't 'Chase'," Merritt said thoughtfully, popping open a new bottle of beer.

"What about mine?" Henley protested. "Unisex names are useless as it is, but Henley?! That's a type of shirt!"

"I think it suits you," Jack suggested, leaning back against the couch.

"Normal name, no opinion," Henley said, pointing a finger at him accusingly.

"I also couldn't help but notice that for any of the sex questions you never put a finger down," Merritt pointed out after swallowing a gulp of beer. "Is your sex life really so boring?"

Jack smirked. "You could say that," he said with a laugh, and casually put his fingers up in a 'V'. "Virgin status, here."

"Aww, Jackie boy!" Henley giggled, throwing her arms around him. "We have so much to teach you!"

Jack laughed and planted a sloppy kiss on her lips. "Looking forward to it," he said in a teasing voice.

Merritt didn't find out what secret Danny was keeping that night, but it was alright for now. He knew it would take some time for some trust to be built, but that was what relationships were all about, after all. He'd waited forty-seven years for a relationship with his soulmates – he could wait for a little longer. Until then, he would continue to observe.

 **...**

 **Jack's opinions on pizza and arguments with Henley about it perfectly emulates my continuous arguments with my dad and my brother. So I couldn't resist adding it. ;)**  
 **Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I love everyone's feedback! Thanks for reading!**


	5. Sensory Overload

**This is it. The chapter we've all been waiting for...**

...

For once, the late afternoon at the apartment was quiet. Usually Danny would be going over plans again and the rest of them would be brainstorming different things they could do to be able to pull off the blueprints. Merritt would occasionally get them all sidetracked with his joking and sexual innuendos, and Danny would get irritated while the others would laugh. There would be frequent kissing, though they hadn't gone further than that yet.

But today, only Danny and Jack were in the apartment. It was Sunday, the first Sunday of May, and a week and a half before they planned to leave for Paris. After they'd figured out most of the plans, they'd decided they needed a day off, so Merritt and Henley had gone to the store to find a couple of movies and snacks for their planned movie night. Danny was looking at the plans and blueprints again from his spot on the loveseat, though he wasn't as focused as he normally was on them. It seemed even he was feeling the laziness of the day – an odd thing to be sure, but one that Jack would appreciate and take full advantage of. Jack was sitting on the chair across from the loveseat, feet resting on the edge of the battered coffee table while his eyes occasionally flicked over to the older man. Dressed in just a pair of jeans because of the rising temperature, his hands were clasped over his stomach in a relaxed manner.

"You know, I can see how you rub your arm a lot," Jack said lazily, breaking the quiet of the apartment.

Danny glanced up from his papers with a "so what?" expression on his face. So Jack went on, "I mean, I think it's kind of obvious what's going on, but of course I'm not the mentalist."

Danny could feel himself beginning to panic at the younger man's words. He knew about his stimming – he'd as much as admitted it himself just now. What would he do now? Would he tell the others? How soon could he expect before they were gone?

Then Jack shrugged unconcernedly, not noticing Danny's panic. "I mean, it could just be the location of your Names – I don't even know where mine and Henley's _are_ – but you touch Merritt's Name more often than anyone else's. So at least to me, it seems kind of obvious that something about the Name is worrying you. Dude, if you want Merritt so badly, all you have to do is talk to him. You don't need to keep worrying about whatever it is you're worrying about."

"Right," Danny said, managing to inject doubt into his voice where all he felt was relief at the fact that Jack apparently _didn't_ know he had autism.

Jack reached a hand up and ran a finger across the Name over his own heart. "I meant what I said, you know," he said after a few moments. "About wanting this – wanting you. I don't care what sort of secrets you have; I still love you."

"You only say that because you don't know what secrets I have," Danny said before he could stop himself. He mentally began berating himself for letting that slip, but Jack didn't even blink at the words.

"I don't think so," he said simply. After a moment, he continued, "Do you remember at pizza night how Merritt said he'd thought about committing suicide?"

"Yes," Danny answered, throat tight at the reminder. Even if he wasn't going to admit it to anyone else, the thought of Merritt having succeeded in killing himself had him on the verge of panicking or breaking down in tears. Possibly both. He couldn't imagine how he would be able to handle it if it had actually happened.

"I was talking with Henley, and we figured out a possible theory for why we both have the scars through Merritt's Name." Jack said. He looked over at him. "I'm guessing your scar goes through the 'inne' part of McKinney?"

Danny nodded wordlessly, heart beginning to pound as his brain conjured up the idea that he didn't want to consider. Jack looked down and pursed his lips slightly.

Quietly, he said, "I think Merritt's considering suicide was a bit more serious than he let on. It's the only reason I can think why the scars would be in the exact same places in the Name – he was close enough that it showed visibly on our Names."

"But we all got them at different times," Danny argued, not letting on how this discussion was affecting him. "Henley said she was four, and I was seven, and you were a teenager. If Merritt had actually tried _that_ "—he cursed how his voice cracked slightly but didn't let on that he'd noticed—"then logically, we all would have gotten hurt at the exact same moment. So you at least would have been born with it."

Jack only looked at him seriously, an odd expression for the normally happy-go-lucky young man. "Then how do you explain how they're all in the same spots on us?"

"I don't…" Danny hesitated before saying more confidently, "But they all came in different ways! All of the scars look different – you were stabbed, Henley was cut, and I was burned."

"And why they're in the same spot?" Jack asked again. This time, Danny said nothing – a rare sight, to be sure, but one neither of them dwelled on, too distracted by the actual conversation.

"I know you care about us, at least to some extent," Jack said after a few moments. "I mean, you touch Merritt's Name enough that I know you've at least had these same sort of thoughts about why the scars are all there. And I can see that you'd be devastated – or at least _somewhat_ upset – if Merritt had actually succeeded."

"What's your point, Jack?" Danny said tiredly, deciding it would be useless to argue against Jack's words if the kid wouldn't believe them, anyway.

"I know you know you'd be upset on some level if Merritt was gone," Jack explained in a quiet voice. "And knowing how you feel, is it really so hard to believe that we wouldn't feel the same way if _you_ left us?"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Danny dismissed, looking away from him.

"Don't I?" Jack argued. "Just because I'm younger than all of you doesn't mean I'm an idiot. And if we can be upset about Merritt being gone, why should another quarter of our souls fail any less if _you_ were?"

"I'm not going to kill myself, Jack," Danny said annoyedly, wishing the other man would just drop it.

"No, but you want to leave us," Jack said sharply, an edge to his voice. "And it may as well be the same thing. We _all_ want you, Danny, and if you decide to 'just be friends' with us, you have to know that it will never work out the same as it should in a real, soulmate relationship."

"God, Jack, if you want me to have sex with you guys, I will," Danny sighed. "I didn't realize it was that big of a deal to you."

"Dammit, Atlas!" Jack slammed the palm of his hand on the armrest, sitting up straight with eyes blazing angrily. "You always act like you're so much smarter than everyone else, but you're being purposefully obtuse! We don't just want to have sex together – we want a _real_ relationship, where we can all get to know each other better and care for each other when we're sick and have goofy date nights and do something nice for each other because we can! I want to wake up next to the three of you every morning and deal with your grumpiness and morning breath and your obsession with coffee. I want to surprise you guys on your birthdays and play card games when we're in the mood and just sit and chat into the early hours of the morning when we can't sleep. As great as it would be, sex is _not_ my priority, and if I had to choose between having sex with the three of you every time I wanted it or having a loving relationship for the rest of our lives, you can bet your ass I'll choose love every time!"

His voice had gone desperate by the end, eyes shining with excitement and distress in equal measure as he tried to get Danny to understand exactly what he meant. Danny gazed at him blankly though, expression betraying nothing while the fingers of his left hand ran repeatedly over Merritt's name. Jack stared at him for several moments, breathing heavily while he tried looking for _something_ , waiting for Danny to say _something_ , before eventually he deflated.

"I don't know if what I'm saying is even getting through to you," he said in a defeated voice. "Because nothing I say seems to be making the slightest difference, even for how much you clearly want this. I just don't know why you're holding back – we all want it, too."

As Danny continued to stare at him silently, Jack sighed deeply, and he nodded once before rising to his feet.

"I'll be back when Henley and Merritt come back," he said quietly, walking in the direction of his room. "Just…please at least _try_ and think about what I said."

Danny said nothing, so Jack nodded again before disappearing down the hallway.

After Danny was certain Jack had left, the breath finally escaped him in a _whoosh_ and he leaned forward to rest his head on his right hand. He pressed his left thumb to his middle and index finger and rubbed repeatedly back and forth, needing the stimulation to keep him in the present.

 _He doesn't know what he's saying,_ he thought desperately, squeezing his eyes shut as his brain whirled. _He might feel like that now, but not after…not after he finds out. My own parents left me – why should Jack and Merritt and Henley be any different? They couldn't…right?_

…

Danny didn't know how long he sat there for, but he came back into awareness when the front door of the apartment opened and Henley called out in a teasing voice.

"Honeys, I'm home!"

"And we have a _great_ selection of movies!" Merritt continued as his grinning face appeared in the doorway of the living room. " _Mean Girls_ being the least of them."

"Where's Jack?" Henley asked conversationally as she pulled a box of microwave popcorn from the grocery bag and began opening it.

"His room," Danny said shortly, thinking that he probably couldn't handle much more sensory information than that after his brain had whirled in confusion and hopelessness for so long. She threw him a sharp glance at his words but said nothing as she went down the hall in search of Jack.

"You alright, Danny boy?" Merritt said casually as he set a twelve-pack can of Coke on the counter. Danny did nothing but throw a glare in his general direction, beginning to see white flashes over his vision and feeling sick to his stomach.

"Right – stupid question," Merritt chided himself, sitting down beside Danny and putting a hand on his shoulder much more gently than Danny would have expected. "Better question; anything I can do to help?"

 _1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10. 1 – 2 – 3…_

"Danny?"

… _6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10._

"I'll be fine," Danny finally croaked out, resisting the urge to stim visibly and keeping it all to the numbers in his head only. "Just…give me a minute."

 _1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5…_

…

Danny could feel the other three's eyes on him as they picked out the movie to watch. His stomach was still rolling, and the occasional flash of white would shine in the corners of his vision, but he couldn't let on that anything was wrong. He was so close, he – he could just "fall asleep" during the movie. The sights and sounds would be too much, but maybe just limiting his senses to sounds would be alright. He couldn't risk them figuring out something was wrong – not something like autism – so he would have to stay there during the movie. To do anything else would raise their suspicions, he was sure.

After almost twenty minutes of playful arguing wherein Danny tried to act as normal as possible, they finally decided on _She's the Man_ ; Henley was very convincing in her arguments for it.

Danny thought he was doing pretty alright during the opening credits of the movie, but soon after the first scene began, he was startled when the microwave beeped that the first bag of popcorn was done. He clasped his hands and tapped his thumbs together several times to prevent anyone from noticing, but needing the soothing repetitiveness to keep from panicking.

As the movie continued, it began to get worse as the sounds grew louder and more prominent in his ears, trying to take over, and he squeezed his eyes shut to cut off that avenue of senses while his ears rang.

Even with his eyes closed though, the white flashes continued to increase in his vision, both in frequency and in brightness.

"Danny, you want me to make you some popcorn?" Henley's voice sounded like she was shouting directly into his ear. Wordlessly, he shook his head as his nausea rose.

" _Mom! Haven't I told you a thousand times?! I have no interest in being a debutante!"_

The actress' voice was grating on his ears, and he began mindlessly shaking his head ever so slightly, trying to clear it as his breathing increased.

 _1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6…_

He heard the popcorn being shaken around in one of the bags to cool it off, and it sounded like a bunch of boulders scraping against each other right behind his head.

… _9 – 10. 1 – 2 – 3…_

The crunch of the other three chewing the popcorn between their teeth was jarring in his brain like they were children with bad manners trying to annoy their siblings by seeing who could eat the loudest.

… _6 – 7 – 8 – 9…_

The flashes were increasing in his vision, and he could feel himself beginning to slip, his nausea increasing and his stomach swooping in a sickeningly familiar way.

… _2 – 3 – 4…_

" _What – no soccer?"_

… _6 – 7 – 8…_

His breathing was increasing in his panic, and he knew he had to get out of there, but he couldn't move. His limbs were too heavy, frozen in place as he tried rubbing his fingers over the burn mark on his arm like he usually did.

"Merritt, something's wrong with Danny…"

 _1, 2, 3, 4…_

"Danny? Hey – talk to me. What's going on?"

… _7 8 9 10 – 1 2 3…_

"Jack – pause the movie. Danny?"

… _10, 1 2 3 4…_

Hands were touching him – hands were touching his hands, a hand was covering his hand touching his arm – fingers were touching his fingers touching his Name keeping him there…

"Follow the pattern of my voice, listen to the lulling, even tempo…"

"Let – lemme – go…" Danny gasped out, hands coming up to cover his ears, trying to block it out, trying to block them out, they were going to find out, he couldn't let them find out, he couldn't let them…

One of the hands that had been touching his before touched it again and pulled it down gently, clasping one palm to the other while the voice continued to speak. "My hand is right in front of your fingers – feel the lines, alright? Feel the lines of my palm and stay in the present as you listen to my voice…"

Danny couldn't help listening to the voice as the white flashes and nausea began to fade. He was still overwhelmed with the sensory overload, but it was beginning to calm as he unseeingly felt along the roughened palm.

 _Merritt,_ his mind supplied distantly, recognizing the feel as they'd held hands at least often enough for him to be able to differentiate between the three. His panic rose for an instant before the low, even voice broke through once more.

"You're safe here, all is quiet, all you're paying attention to is the palm in front of you and the sound of my voice as your breathing slows and evens out…"

…

At first Merritt had thought that it was a simple case of OCD that Danny had as a not very well-hidden secret. And there were some clues that matched up – needing it clean, having his papers and plans in the right order, and getting ridiculously upset when it appeared that things were not going to plan. There had been a day when Henley had supposed that it might take a bit longer before they could get to Paris, pushing off plans by a whole month, and Danny about had a conniption. After that problem had been sorted out, Danny had calmed down, though his eyes darted about a bit more and he ran his fingers over Merritt's Name more often.

But some things just didn't fit with that idea. He didn't have any sort of rituals that he had to do, and one night he agreed to help Henley make meatloaf, having absolutely no problem mixing the meat and spices with his hands.

He was still pondering this dilemma as they planned for their movie night at the beginning of May. He had seen how Danny clearly loved his soulmates over the past few weeks, but he had also seen how he continued to force himself to look away from them when he realized what he was doing. He could see that even though Danny loved them, he had no intention of staying in the relationship past the time frame Jack had given him.

And Merritt wasn't going to allow that. As much of an asshole as J. Daniel Atlas could be, he had grown to love the guy, and he wasn't going to let him separate from the group.

He knew that Danny thought he wasn't good enough for the rest of them, which made absolutely zero fucking sense, really. He was the most arrogant of them all, but Merritt had long since begun to suspect that it was a defense mechanism. Was the arrogant disregard real? Absolutely. It had been going on too long for it not to be. Was it forced? Most definitely.

Clearly Danny was hiding something; Merritt always remembered that look of satisfaction and relief in the hallway when they first met, when he was called a control freak. And he still couldn't figure out what was so bad that a control freak would be better. Nothing that made sense for Danny, anyway.

He hadn't expected anything to come of the movie night, to be honest, even after he'd come home and clearly seen Danny much more tense than usual, gazing unseeingly into the distance. He wasn't looking anyone in the eyes, and he was a lot more jittery than normal. But after seeing Jack, Merritt had chalked the attitude up to whatever spat the two had had when he and Henley were gone.

Just a few minutes into the movie, however, Merritt had seen a slight movement from the corner of his eye – a movement that seemed unnatural; cut off before it could be finished. Jack was just commenting that something was wrong with Danny when he saw the man rubbing his fingers over the Name on his forearm in an almost frantic way.

Henley had told Jack to pause the movie, while after Merritt had asked his question his mind abruptly had the realization –

 _The burn scar. He's rubbing the burn scar._

 _Why? Flashback? Panic attack?_ He wondered next, but both were quickly dismissed when Merritt tried touching the hand going over the burn scar, and Danny's hands went up to cover his ears while his eyes stayed clenched shut and he pleaded to be let go.

 _Stimming._

And abruptly, everything about Danny made perfect sense.

...

 **Haha cliffhanger for youuu...XD I hope I got the meltdown right, getting in his head. I tried doing as much research as I could to make it as accurate and believable as possible. If something was off though, let me know!**  
 **Thanks for reading!**


	6. Explanations and Reassurance

**Thanks so much for all the positive feedback! Hope this chapter meets your guys' expectations as well as I gather the last one did!**

 **...**

Danny could only gaze at his hands blankly as the silence continued around him. The movie had been turned off, the screen dark, and the bags of popcorn and chips lay forgotten on the couch and on the coffee table. Jack and Merritt stood silently in their respective places – Merritt crouched on the floor next the chair he sat in, and Jack next to the loveseat, still holding the remote from when he'd turned off the movie.

"Here, Danny," Henley's voice said on his other side, and his eyes glanced over to see her holding a glass of water out to him. Taking it silently, he took a sip before just holding it in his hands and not looking at any of them as Henley sat down in the loveseat.

"What was that?" Jack said finally, though Danny could hear that the kid had likely already figured it out.

Merritt probably noticed it too, but he answered anyway; "'That' was a sensory overload meltdown, brought on by too much information to the brain at once."

At these words, Danny turned his head away, unable to see the disgust on their faces before they tossed him out. He hadn't had a meltdown in _years_ – of _course_ he would have it in front of all of them when it did come. It was only a matter of time before he was doing street tricks again, rather than planning for this amazing heist with his soulmates.

"This is why you've been so distant with us – isn't it?" Merritt asked him. Danny clenched his jaw and didn't answer, sure he would start crying if he tried – yet _another_ thing he hadn't done in years.

"Hey, Danny – look at me." Danny ignored him, tapping his fingers against the glass in his hands nervously. He'd known it was only a matter of time – he just hadn't expected his secret to be revealed so _soon_. He'd _known_ this would happen after agreeing to the six-week trial. Just a couple more weeks, a month at the most, and he would've been in the clear.

" _Danny_."

Arms wrapped around him suddenly from behind, and unconsciously he found himself relaxing into it before he realized who it was that was hugging him. Glancing down, he saw tanned skin and black arm hair – Jack. Jack was hugging him. His breathing hitched slightly at the realization – Jack was hugging him, not pushing him away.

"I'm sorry; I didn't even realize," Jack murmured into his hair.

Abruptly Danny tore away from him, out of the chair and away from them, unable to stand their guilty sympathy.

" _Don't_ ," he spat, roughly setting the glass of water down on the coffee table, causing some of it to splash out and puddle on the table, but for once Danny didn't care. "Don't feel guilty, because I was doing _just fine_ before I found any of you guys, and I can do just fine after I've gone, too!"

"What do you mean, after you've gone?" Henley blurted. "You can't leave!"

"Well, I think the point is kind of moot now!" Danny spat back. "You guys _had_ to go prying, and now you know!"

"Know what, Danny?" Merritt prompted, the only one who appeared calm of the four. "Why don't you tell us, so we're all on the same page?"

"You _know_!" Danny cried. "You just saw, and you said…so you _know_!"

"Know what?" Merritt repeated, eyes tracking his movement.

"About – about my _autism_!" he spat the word hatefully. Even knowing what the older man was doing, he never liked to say the word out loud. It only seemed that much more real – that much more painful – when his _condition_ was voiced. Though that was likely the point of why Merritt was insisting that he said it.

"And tell me, Danny – what does that change?" Merritt questioned, still appearing largely unaffected by Danny's agitation.

" _Everything_!" Danny cried, tugging at the ends of his hair without consciously thinking about it.

"Pray tell, Danny – how does it change 'everything'?" Merritt continued his point. "The way I see it, the only thing it changes is our knowledge about why you do some of the things you do, and act the way you sometimes act."

"We don't want you to _leave_ , Danny," Henley said in a voice that sounded almost – _broken_. " _Please_ don't leave."

Danny scoffed, even while his heart twinged with pain at both the thought of leaving and at the look on her face.

"Stop pretending, guys," he said in a harsh voice, though his voice cracked a bit on the last word. Clearly his throat, he continued more strongly with, "I know you don't want to deal with someone with autism – 'soulmates' or no."

"And why do you presume to know that?" Jack was the one to ask in an irritated voice. "You haven't even taken the chance to get to know us or let _us_ make a decision one way or another! I _told_ you that I didn't care what your secret was, and I still don't! I still want you here!"

"Please," Danny scoffed, heart clenching with pain. "My own _parents_ dumped me into the foster care system within a week of finding out I was on the spectrum. What could _possibly_ make you think any differently?"

"Maybe because your Name has been engraved on my fucking _soul_ since the day I was born!" Jack practically snarled. "Or maybe because I'm not some fucking psychotic, idiotic _asshole_ like your parents apparently were!"

"Well put," Merritt commented in an aside to Jack before looking back at Danny.

"So you have autism – who fucking cares?" Merritt said bluntly. "Clearly not us. Sorry you had shit people to give birth to you, but we're not them. We're not going to just toss you aside like those assholes did, so don't insult us by thinking otherwise."

"We still want you as part of this relationship, Danny," Henley said, eyes shiny with tears. "Please don't leave us, because we're not complete without you."

Danny could feel his certainty beginning to falter and make way for doubt as all three of them showed their support for him, continued even through their discovered knowledge of his condition. It didn't seem fake or forced, either – they seemed like they were honestly angry at the very thought of him leaving or being kicked out.

"You're still an asshole, make no mistake about that," Merritt said honestly, sauntering over to him. He reached out, grabbing Danny into a side hug and kissing him firmly on the lips. "So I guess it's a good thing I like assholes."

"Same here," Jack chimed in, and Danny found him suddenly on his other side before the younger man kissed him in much the same way Merritt had. Then Henley's arms were wrapped around his waist from behind, and she kissed the nape of his neck.

"We still love you, Danny," she said, pleading for him to believe them. "Please don't think anything otherwise."

Danny felt overwhelmed, but this time it was a good feeling. It wasn't the same feeling he had before a meltdown – it was a feeling he'd never felt before, but it was – welcome. He felt safe…accepted.

And because of that…maybe, just maybe – he could believe them.

…

Danny's realization didn't come immediately, or last long when it did come. Many times he would doubt the feeling he'd felt that night when they had found out about his condition, and he would fall back on old habits of pushing the other three away to avoid getting hurt. The others would quickly be able to pick up on what he was feeling however, more certain of what they were looking for now, and he would be promptly and relentlessly assured time and again that they didn't care about his autism. It was slow progress, but Danny was day by day becoming surer in his belief that they weren't going to just toss him out.

They made it to Paris on time as planned, and it was while they were spending a late night in their hotel room that he finally told them more about his parents and the time he'd been put into foster care after they found out about the autism.

"I had just turned four," he remembered, playing absentmindedly with the ends of Henley's red hair while they lied on the bed. Jack was pressed to his other side, arm slung around Danny's waist, while Merritt lied on the other side of Henley, mirroring Jack's position on her.

"I didn't really understand what they were so upset about at the time," Danny went on. "I didn't know that what I did was so…bad, I suppose. I knew I was different from other kids, but…" He shrugged and fell silent, lost in memories for several silent minutes before continuing.

"Foster care wasn't…too bad, at first," he said quietly. "But I realized when they put me in classes with drooling kids in school that those were the kids my parents expected me to turn out like, and…they couldn't handle it.

"So, I got angry. I was angry with them, and with myself for being so screwed up that my own parents didn't want me, and I ended up getting sent back into the system because my foster parents couldn't deal with my acting out.

"I don't know if they tell prospective foster parents about anyone with autism, but if so, they don't do a very good job with choosing fitting parents. Right before I turned eight, I…I was angry, is what I remember. I usually was. But this time was different, because I'd had a bad day, and I was remembering how my parents were, and hating myself for it, and everything was hitting me harder than usual. I had a meltdown soon after coming home from school, and my foster father happened to have been smoking.

"I suppose he thought the pain would calm me down – that, or he was just a sadistic bastard. I don't know. But it got worse, and I was screaming, and a neighbor called the cops, and after that I got sent to a different home and never saw the guy again."

They all remained quiet for another several minutes – Danny, because he was thinking and remembering, and the other three because they were afraid that if they spoke he would clam up again. He'd never been so open before, and they didn't want to ruin it.

Finally, Danny said, "When I was eighteen and finally got out of the system, I went looking for my birth parents. I wanted to show them that I wasn't like they'd expected me to be – I was _smart_. Even with all of the foster parents, I still graduated valedictorian of my class. I don't even know what I expected from them, but…" He swallowed.

"They'd ended up divorcing soon after I'd been sent away," he said. "My father had died of a heart attack when I was sixteen, and my mother got remarried to a guy named Richard May." He closed his eyes to prevent tears from leaking out before forcing himself to continue. "Her daughter's name is Lula. She's absolutely adored by both her parents." He laughed a little, but it sounded broken, not quite right, and Jack hugged him tighter around the waist while Henley squeezed his hand sympathetically.

"She even likes magic," he finally got out. "First time I met her she pulled a hat out of a rabbit, and she was just fifteen. She didn't have any idea who I was, and I decided not to tell her. She was…sweet. I would've hated her on principle if not for that, but she had no idea I was her…her older brother."

This time the tears escaped his eyes, but he made no sound. He felt safe with the other three – safe to relax and unwind and let them see him at his most vulnerable. And in the morning, when they woke up, he would be grateful once again for the amazing soulmates who stayed with him throughout the night, never letting him go.

 **...**

 **Yep, shorter chapter than normal. But a lot of information! I couldn't resist making Lula his half-sister – it just seems so right! I wanted to include her because I love her but I didn't want to extend this even MORE to a fivesome (is that a word?). So, this was the compromise. ;) Hope you guys enjoyed it!**  
 **Thanks for reading!**


	7. The List

**I'd written into the story of the movie for a few chapters, when I looked back and decided to add in this little bit here. It's shorter than normal, but I thought that it deserved its own chapter because of its content. Hope you enjoy! :)**

 **P.S. If you aren't logged in and you ask a question, I CAN'T ANSWER YOU. But if I find your question worth answering, I'll go and leave a review on the chapter, so you can go and look for that. There's no other way to answer without inconveniencing others, so if it's really important to you, read the reviews and mine might be in there - or just make it easier for everyone and log in and I can just answer you in a PM. Just saying. :/**

 **...**

It was the final step, the last thing to tick off on Danny's subconscious checklist to allow himself to completely and irrevocably trust his three soulmates. When it had been so flippantly offered to Jack, he hadn't cared as much. He hadn't ever thought that he would make it this far on the checklist he'd created in his subconscious mind as a teenager.

It had been simple, really. After the new girl in his English class had shied away from him upon learning of his autism, he had begun making his mental checklist. Most people made bucket lists, or to-do lists of their five-year plan, or a list of future baby names, or a list of cars they wanted most, or a list of things that had to be there at their wedding or some other large life event. He, however, made a list of things someone had to do or how to act or what to say before he would open himself up to them and make himself vulnerable to be hurt once more. It had never become a tangible thing like most peoples' lists, but rather it was the thoughts of " _someone has to do 'this' before I'd trust them"_. And it had all been hypothetical, another way of coping, because he hadn't ever thought he'd make it through even half of his checklist.

 _Must tell me they love me._

That one was probably the easiest one. People blurted that all the time in the throes of passion and then never saw him again, so he wouldn't have given it a second thought except that he knew it was important for someone to care about the other person if they were to be trusted. An indifferent person wouldn't care about keeping someone's secrets, because they have no relationship to uphold should they blurt it out.

Hence the addendum.

 _Must tell me without the influence of carnal pleasure._

No one really said things like that without the influence of sexual pleasure. Outside of sex was when people's defenses were up, when they were more nervous about saying the wrong thing. So if someone was saying something like that – something so personal – when they weren't having sex, then they either meant it or they really wanted something from him.

All three of his soulmates had told him they loved him more than once, and it didn't seem difficult for them, either. They would throw the words out casually, during playful moments and quiet moments alike. They had all wanted a relationship with their soulmates for so long that when they met them all, it was just another extension of their vocabulary.

But Danny still wondered if they really meant it.

 _I must also love them._

That one was in the realm of being in the more difficult items on his list. He didn't love easily. But when he did, he loved fiercely. He had a greater capacity for love than most people, likely because he knew exactly how it felt not to have it, but the problem was being able to trust someone just enough that he _could_ love them. And as much as he'd always tried telling himself otherwise, he'd loved the people whose Names were on his skin his entire life and with his entire being. He hadn't expected a return of that affection, and it had been that doubt that had him keeping his distance from the other three in the beginning.

But he _did_ love the other three. Even if they'd dismissed him, he always would. He was only glad that they loved him in return – or at least professed that they did.

 _Must be alright with my personality – namely, the controlling bossiness._

People got pissed off with him because of his need for control all the time. When he'd been doing magic shows, he had cycled through several assistants because they couldn't handle it. He didn't want them to be submissive, per se – he didn't want to be an abusive partner. And he knew that someone without a spine would be a very bad match for him, because if he ever accidentally crossed a line, he wouldn't know it because they wouldn't stand up for themselves. No – he wanted someone who wasn't afraid of being their own person, but also wouldn't quit on him because he was an arrogant, controlling asshole. He got annoyed when someone talked back to him – of course he did. But he wasn't just going to dismiss their words because he thought he was better than them or knew better than them. He knew he wasn't, and he didn't – it was just the part where he'd have to _admit_ he was wring that he'd always struggled with. He had grown up learning to show no vulnerability or weakness, and being wrong was something he saw as a failure. So if he was wrong, he'd prefer that someone told him so that it could be corrected before everyone noticed it. Even if he did act like an asshole to the person telling him.

The other three had as much as said that they didn't care about his bossy control issues. They didn't sweep it aside, spouting meaningless platitudes of how "no – you're not an asshole, you just think differently" or any other fallacious bullshit meant to reassure him but only serve to piss him off. He knew he was an asshole – everyone knew it. And he wasn't going to deal with any idiot who tried to deny it, especially to his face.

But they'd acknowledged it outright. And then said they didn't care – they still loved him. And wasn't that a novel idea?

 _Must know of my autism, but be able to look past the condition and to the person underneath._

That was the one item he'd never expected to be able to cross off. The most difficult by far, all the people he'd encountered who found out about his autism either felt some sort of misplaced sympathy or a discomfort that had them keeping their distance. They either wanted to help him where he needed no help, or they didn't know how to react to it and backed off to avoid making themselves uncomfortable. Even if they'd known him for some time before finding out, they immediately saw him differently when they found out about his autism, as though he was a different person now. He wasn't, but he'd given up long ago trying to convince people of that.

But, amazingly, all three of his soulmates still wanted him. They had seen him at his worst, and yet they still wanted a relationship with all four of them, and not just the other three. He had tried so hard to keep his autism a secret for so long, realizing that it was pushing them away but wanting them at least at a distance rather than not at all. After that night when they'd discovered his secret, he had expected to be treated at least a little bit differently…and yet he wasn't. Oh sure, there were the little things – watching him more often when he began stimming, or questions about what he would need or prefer from them if he ever came close to a sensory overload – but overall they were the same. They didn't treat him like he was delicate or made of glass, and they still had plenty of arguments when he was being too much of a dick during their planning. They truly did not seem to care.

 _Must still want to be with me after having sex._

To him, sex had always been just sex. Having sex with strangers he'd just met at his magic shows was pretty much his MO. Others would say he was a playboy or even just a whore, but he had never really seen the big deal in it. It wouldn't have even made it to his list were it not for his soulmates. He hadn't had sex with them yet. Usually he met someone when he was having sex with them, and if they happened to stick around for longer than a one-night stand, he would learn their name. But with the other three, it had been reversed. They were insistent on getting to know each other, and the sex came secondary.

This was the last item on his list. It was the last reason he could think of that would be why the other three wanted him. Because even with the rest of the list having had its requirements fulfilled, he didn't fully believe and trust that it wasn't just some ploy. And while he personally thought nothing of sex, he knew that other people did. _Lots_ of people did. So with everything else checked off, all that was left was sex. He thought that maybe – _surely_ – after they all slept together that they would grow apart. He would be pushed away, because he had been all used up.

It was the reason he'd resisted having sex for so long. He was certain that after that, it would be over – and he remembered Jack's words. His words about how he preferred a loving relationship for the rest of their lives over having sex with all of them whenever he wanted it…and he'd found himself agreeing. Because surely this was as good as it got, he reasoned. Surely they couldn't all love each other _and_ have sex with each other. Surely that was impossible. And he'd rather have this wonderful feeling of love and belonging with the other three than he would having sex with them.

But they were in a celebratory mood now. They'd got Arthur Tressler on board as their benefactor, and they were that much closer to being able to pull this off. When Henley had hung up the phone, she'd pounced on Jack, as he was the closest, and it had escalated from there with Merritt going over to join them. Jack had been the one to pull Danny over to the three of them, attacking his lips with fervor.

"Want you," Jack moaned breathily against his neck while he fumbled with Danny's shirt. Then Danny felt Merritt press up behind him, pressing his lips to Danny's now bare shoulder and working to undo his belt buckle. Danny's vision spun with his arousal, and he saw Henley now behind Jack, undoing the younger man's shirt buttons from behind.

He was standing on the precipice now, hovering uncertainly on the edge as he decided whether or not to jump. His list ran through his head, all of the perfect, even little checkmarks he'd been keeping track of, and he made his decision. They'd given him every reason to trust. All he needed to do was return the favor, and hope that he wouldn't hurt himself in doing so.

And so, he jumped off that edge, swirling dizzily in his freefall into the unknown, waiting to see if he was right in putting his trust in them.

And, just as he'd hoped – just as he'd expected – they caught him.

 **...**

 **Nice little character study there for Danny. Next chapter, we skip ahead to Las Vegas!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **P.S. Poll on my profile! Please go vote!**


	8. Las Vegas

**I've seen Suicide Squad twice already and it is AMAZING. Jared Leto's Joker is absolutely stunning. I wrote a couple of fics for it, and that's my only explanation for why this chapter took longer than normal to post. ¯\\_(** **ツ** **)_/¯**

 **...**

"We are the Four Horsemen! Good night!"

They were all grinning, giddy with their success and glowing with excitement. The first act in Las Vegas was done, and they had about a week before they would find out where all of this led to. The Parisian bank was short 3.2 million Euros, and they were that much more famous in the world.

Not that they cared too much about their fame – but it was all part of the plan. There was of course the headiness that came with the attention so focused on them, and none of them would deny that it was exhilarating and exciting – they were all magicians, after all. They thrived on the attention of their fans, and it was how they were used to making their living. No fame meant no fans, and no fans meant no show, and no show meant no income. A shy person wouldn't be able to handle the attention of others so well.

They rode back to the Aria hotel in one of Tressler's limos, and when they got up to their room they spent several hours celebrating amongst themselves, uncaring of the hour. After the adrenaline rush had faded, they fell asleep in a tangle of limbs, sweaty and sticky with their success. Only a few hours later, they were awakened by the alarm clock Danny had thoughtfully set before their, ah… _activities_ the night before.

The sun was streaming through the windows, far too bright for the tired foursome, but Danny got them all up with his signature bossiness. They had at most an hour before they would be brought in by the FBI for questioning, and they all knew how important it was to look unfazed by it. Cockiness – they had to be cocky and arrogant enough that the FBI would be pissed off and keep following them, especially when they got to New Orleans. They had to continue to be watched for this to be able to be pulled off without a hitch.

Jack set out to have a pot of coffee sent up to their room, while Henley and Merritt got first showers. While Danny and Jack showered, the coffee arrived, and the other two finished their first cups as Danny and Jack were getting out. Henley did her makeup, and then used a bit of concealer on the boys as well to cover the dark circles under their eyes from fatigue. By the time she was done the boys had all gotten dressed and ready for the day, bags all packed and waiting in their rooms.

"Five minutes!" Henley called in reminder as the boys all made their way downstairs to make it look like they were casually waiting. Merritt plopped on the couch with a book, Jack slouched in a chair with his feet up on the table and the iPad in his lap, while Danny stood over by the window, shuffling cards while looking out at the Strip. Henley remained upstairs – it had been decided that she would be making her entrance after the FBI had come in. Supposedly she was finishing with the packing and getting ready to go – there did have to be a reason why they were still there, after all. The boys' positions would give off the impression that they were just waiting for her to be done before they could be on their way, rather than waiting for the FBI to show up.

"Stop thinking so loud, Jack – it's distracting from my reading," Merritt said after a few moments without looking behind him to see the younger man.

"I just don't want to go to jail, you know?" Jack said with an exasperated roll of his eyes.

"We're not going to jail – we're not even being arrested," Danny was the one to say. "They don't have any proof they can hold us with."

"Besides, they'll be so pissed off with me an' Danny here that they won't be as on their game when questioning you," Merritt said with a laziness he didn't feel. He was just as nervous about this as Jack was.

"We just have to trust the blueprints," Danny reiterated for about the hundredth time that week. "Just follow the blueprints, and we'll be fine."

"I love you guys," Jack blurted suddenly. "Just so you know. If anything happened…"

"Jesus, Jack – we're not _dying_ ," Merritt said with a sigh. "Nothing's gonna happen to us, and in a few hours we'll be on the jet to New Orleans." Then he craned his head up a bit to look at Jack, and his eyes softened. "But I love you too." He smirked and called over to Danny at the window, "You too, Danny!"

"Yeah, yeah," Danny muttered, hands quick as he shuffled the cards. But they both heard the fondness in his voice, and that was enough for them at the moment.

It was no more than perhaps a minute later that the FBI finally came, and even Jack couldn't help the smirk that appeared on his face when they walked through the casino and everyone clapped for them.

Inside the offices, they were all separated into different rooms. Jack sat with a nervousness that he didn't show for a good several minutes before finally leaning back and going to sleep. Henley got bored after just a minute sitting there, and began spinning the chair across from her on one leg. Merritt had some fun with some of the agents there, and was sure to send some rumors spinning about one agent's tradition of 'Tranny Tuesday' with his wife. Danny simply sat there with his typical arrogantly bored expression while he continued shuffling his cards.

"So, I take it that you and your soulmate haven't exactly hashed it out?" Rhodes said a few minutes into the interview. His voice was casual, but he said it more like it was a statement than a question, and his eyes were gazing speculatively at the Name just visible under his rolled up sleeves.

Danny allowed himself to tense for just an instant, knowing that the agents would catch it. His eyes darted down to the Name before he turned it so it wasn't so visible, leaning back in forced casualness.

"None of us really put a whole lot of stock into the whole soulmate thing," he said dryly. "So, no. We haven't."

"Mr. McKinney let on that he and Miss Reeves were something of an item," Rhodes revealed with a raised eyebrow. "Does it not make you at least a bit upset that your apparent soulmate would be with another member of your team?"

"Not in the slightest," Danny said, shifting slightly in the chair as though uncomfortable. Then he stiffened slightly and said matter-of-factly, "I know what you're trying to do, Agent Rhodes, and it's not going to work. Merritt had a whole life before I was even born, and I have my own reasons for not caring about any sort of relationship with someone else, soulmate or no. So trying to sow seeds of dissent in us isn't going to change anything, because Merritt and Henley are members of the team, and nothing more."

"What about Miss Reeves?" the Interpol agent interjected, looking honestly curious, and not like she was trying to look for a way to split up the group. "Does she not have a soulmate out there?"

"I'm sure she does," Danny said with a shrug. "But it's not really something we talk about. None of us really care about the idea of soulmates – we have more important things to worry about."

…

All Henley could think when the FBI and Interpol agent came into the room was, _Finally._ She'd been in there for probably about an hour – she'd known that she would be either third or fourth to be questioned, but still it did nothing to stop her boredom. She'd stopped spinning the chair around on one leg a while ago, and had taken to mindlessly getting out of the handcuffs on her wrists and then locking them back on. She couldn't help scoffing at the easiness of it – she would've expected better of the federal government. Not even the first time undoing it had it been a challenge.

"Henley Reeves," the man – Agent Rhodes – was the one to say, while he and his partner (hm – even she could see the tension there, and she was no mentalist) sat in the two chairs across from her. "You had quite the circus act going about a year ago," he commented, looking through the papers in the file. She was pleased to note how thin it was – she'd done a great job of deleting pertinent information about herself, namely the record of the Names on her body. All hospitals recorded locations of the Names on someone when they were admitted – not the actual names of the people on them, but enough to tell if they had any sort of change over time. Seeing as she was the best hacker of the Four Horsemen, it had fallen on her to delete personal records of such things, but she left enough information that no one would be suspicious. Things that had to go were things like the Names, records of Danny's autism (at his request), and some personal back information that could be used against them.

"It says here that you consider yourself the escape artist of the group," Rhodes continued, and looked up at her. "Care to explain what that means?"

Henley smirked and leaned forward slightly, saying, "It means that I could get out of these handcuffs and outside the FBI offices any time I wanted to, should I so choose, and you guys wouldn't know I was gone until I was halfway to Henderson." She smiled in a flirtatiously mocking sort of way and lifted her cuffed wrists slightly. "Want to see?"

"That won't be necessary," the Interpol agent – Alma Dray – put in.

"Tell me, Miss Reeves," Rhodes said, closing the file and leaning forward slightly. "What's a nice girl like you doing robbing a foreign bank with three other guys?"

"Whatever gave you the impression I was nice?" Henley dodged the question with a laugh.

"Hm – that's true, at least," Rhodes agreed, leaning back slightly. "I mean, it could be argued that you stole another team member's soulmate, and _that's_ just cruel."

" _People_ can't be stolen, Agent Rhodes," Henley said with a raised eyebrow. "And to say otherwise would suggest that the relationship isn't consensual on both sides. Which, I assure you, it is."

"Hm, maybe so," Rhodes said noncommittally. "But then you wouldn't have a problem stealing anyway, would you? That was something shown clearly enough last night when you and the other so-called 'Four Horsemen' robbed the Credit Republican of Paris of 3.2 million Euros. How'd you manage that, if you don't mind my asking?"

Henley was quiet for a minute before she looked at him with a serious expression. "You really want to know? It's a bit complicated – I'm not sure you'll be able to follow."

"I'm sure I can keep up," Rhodes said, a suspicious look on his face at the odd and sudden turnabout in the young woman.

"Well, it's sort of a secret," Henley said, leaning forward in the chair to be closer to the two agents. "You can't tell any of the boys that I told you."

Dray also looked suspicious at this sudden willingness to talk, but she said anyway, "Alright, we won't tell your other team mates. How did you do it?"

Henley leaned in even closer to them, until they leaned in closer as well. Her serious expression shifted into an amused and satisfied smirk just before she whispered, " _Magic_."

…

"Jack Wilder," the FBI agent said, sitting down across from the youngest Horsemen while said young man lazily dropped his feet from the table. "Twenty years old, born Christmas Eve 1992 in Boston. Left to the care of social services before the New Year, and went to seventeen different foster homes before running away at thirteen." He looked up from the file he'd been reading from and raised an eyebrow at him.

Jack only shrugged carelessly while the Interpol agent sat next to the other man. "Was there a question in there?"

"You're not even legal drinking age," Rhodes said, leaning forward and resting his forearms on the edge of the table. "So what's a kid like you doing robbing foreign banks with three people so much older than yourself?"

Jack smirked. "When you've got talent, age really doesn't matter. And I've got a lot of talent."

"And modesty," Rhodes said sarcastically.

Jack's smirk grew deeper. "What can I say? I've been hanging around Danny too much."

"And what do you think of your team members, as all of you have called yourselves?" Rhodes asked him. "Any comment on Mr. Atlas' jealousy towards Miss Reeves and Mr. McKinney?"

Jack chuckled. "Danny doesn't get jealous," he said in a way that it was clear enough that he was lying. "Plus, there's nothing to get jealous about."

"What about the fact that his soulmate is with someone else – someone he's worked with previously?" Rhodes pressed. "Is there truly no reason for jealousy there?"

"Nope," Jack said with a shrug. "None of us really believe in this 'soulmate' idea."

"And you personally – is it because you have no Names of your own?"

Jack blinked once in surprise but showed no other signs that the question had fazed him – but it was enough for the two agents to catch. "Probably," was all he said.

"You have a lot of anger in you," Rhodes said, looking back down at the file. "Can I assume that the other three don't know of your past?"

"You can assume whatever you like," Jack said with forced laziness, shifting slightly in his chair. "But you know what they say about people who assume."

"So none of them know about your hospital stay in 2005," Rhodes said with a nod, looking at the files. "Quite the statements you made back then – false claims of abuse are a serious matter, Mr. Wilder. It can destroy lives."

Jack's face was stony, and he said nothing for so long that Rhodes looked up from his file to see what was causing the silence. Dray was looking at him sympathetically, but he didn't care about any sort of act right now. If there was one thing he hated, it was being called a liar. Even if it _was_ expected in the plan.

"Nothing to say on the matter?" Rhodes said with a raised eyebrow. Dray shot him a disbelieving glance before her eyes went back to Jack. Clearly she was more inclined to believe that those claims were anything but false. Logically, Jack knew that Rhodes was of the same mind and was just trying to rattle his cage to get him to confess. But that was in the back of his mind at the moment.

"Or, how about we go with this one?" Rhodes said, finding something else on the file of apparent interest. "1999, you stabbed your foster mother in the thigh with a steak knife. Six years old is pretty young to start a life of crime, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that you've graduated to international bank heist before you're twenty-one."

Jack's face didn't change for a long moment, before it suddenly relaxed and he gave the man a sarcastic smile. "It's all in the magic," he said mockingly. "You gonna arrest me now?"

…

"So, how did everyone's questioning go?" Henley was the first one to ask once they were all alone. They were in a private waiting room at the airport, waiting for Tressler's jet to be ready for them to board and leave for New Orleans.

"Predictable," Jack drawled from the chair across from hers. "My age was commented on, of course, and they tried the whole thing with the jealousy coming from Danny, and then rounded it off with a trip down memory lane. Yours?"

"He called me a 'nice girl'," she said it as though it was a truly repulsive insult. "And then he tried to make me feel guilty for 'stealing' Danny's soulmate."

Danny was the one to laugh most at this, though they were all chuckling. "The FBI are fools," Danny commented with a shrug in a manner of 'what can you do?'

"True, that," Merritt said from his seat next to Jack. "They actually _believed_ the 'Tranny Tuesday' story!"

"Well, you are pretty believable when you want to be," Jack said with a chuckle, bumping his shoulder with his own. "And nothing makes a day brighter than spreading embarrassing rumors about FBI agents."

"I think we're all pretty good with pretending to pretend to not care about the soulmate thing," Henley said with a smirk. "I saw the looks that Agents Rhodes and Dray were giving each other – not exactly the most subtle, are they?"

"I'm just surprised that they would believe that the self-proclaimed 'control freak' would lack so much control that he couldn't tell a believable lie," Danny said with a shake of his head.

"Well, it _is_ the FBI," Jack smirked. "They claim to be the best and the brightest, but even I was unimpressed with the quality of those handcuffs. 'Course, I'm good with locks…but still."

"No, those were almost _insultingly_ easy to get out of," Danny agreed. "Made for a nice trick though, when I could throw them on Rhodes and get him locked there instead."

"Yeah, I heard about that," Merritt said with a laugh. "A few agents in the hall were more than a little disgruntled at the 'cocky shit' in Room 6."

Danny was smiling smugly.

"Don't get _too_ big of a head there, Danny," Henley said with a laugh, lightly slapping the back of said head. "We still need you on your game when we get the security questions out of Tressler."

"I'll manage just fine," Danny retorted.

"Just so long as the jealousy is believable," Henley said. "So Merritt, feel free to be as lewd as possible."

He gave her a sharklike grin. "It'd be my pleasure, m' lady."

"Be aware, though, Merritt," she cautioned with a playful twinkle in her eyes, "Anything you suggest will actually be undertaken when we get to the privacy of the bedroom again, so don't stretch yourself too much."

"Oh, but I do so _love_ being stretched," Merritt teased, grin still in place.

Jack groaned miserably. "Don't _say_ stuff like that when we can't do anything more for _hours_ ," he chided, shifting slightly in his seat.

"Just know, Jackie boy," Merritt said, leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet out in front of him, "Anything that's said on that jet I will be imagining in great detail while making plans for later."

"Yeah, me too," Jack said with a sigh, smile twitching at his lips. He leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to Merritt's jaw line, pulling back right as Jasmine came back to tell them that they were ready to board the plane.

Danny sat alone from the other Horsemen, near the front of the plane, as was planned. He constantly shuffled his cards and gazed between them as though memorizing a new trick, much too focused on his magic tricks to bother socializing with the others. While the man Skyped with Conan, he was in the seat across the aisle from Tressler, clearly able to be seen by him, while Jack sat just beyond them, across the seats from Jasmine. Henley and Merritt took up the longer seats in the back – more like couches than seats, really – and after the Skype call ended Merritt was quick to start teasing her loud enough to be heard by the others without it being obvious that he wanted the whole plane to hear.

Danny purposely made his card movements more aggressive as the minutes dragged on in the air, before he finally put them away and simply sat in the seat, running his fingers over Merritt's name and keeping his eye constantly in Merritt and Henley's direction. From the corner of his eye he saw Tressler glance at him once or twice, noticing his agitation, but he was glad that he said nothing. That would have been just too weird.

He remembered when they'd decided to play it from this angle – the whole jealousy between he and Merritt, and the issues with being soulmates but not together. Danny had suggested just brushing it off altogether, but Henley was the one to point out how Danny was used to stimming with the scar on Merritt's Name, and it would be better if he continued with that. If Merritt was with Henley, then Merritt could be his usual flirtatious self, and Danny could appear jealous and hurt because he wanted the man and the older man wanted Henley instead. This way his autism would also be less likely to be revealed, as Danny still expressed his wish for. Jack had pointed out how this could also work when they got the information out of Tressler. This way there would be a clear and obvious reason why Danny would feel challenged with the mentalism thing.

Jack chatted casually with Jasmine, though she was also focused on her iPad and planning whatever it was Tressler had her putting together. So Jack could do nothing but listen with increasing arousal as Merritt's comments got more and more obvious and way past the realm of 'suggestive'. Jack had a feeling that he was being graphic on purpose, knowing that none of the others could do anything about it at the moment.

 _Oh, he_ _ **will**_ _be punished,_ Henley was thinking with a mental smirk. She was certain by the gleam in his eye that Merritt knew this as well and was only looking forward to it.

It was when Merritt was making another joke about a guy masturbating that Henley's eyes met Danny's with a look that clearly said _Let's do this now._

Danny was already getting to his feet, and he thought he might have seen Tressler with a knowing smirk on his face as he moved to the back, but it was so quick that he thought he might have imagined it.

"Hey guys," Danny interrupted them in his usual bossy tone that he had around others. "Uh…we've got a show to prepare for."

"Oh," Merritt said, getting to his feet. "Do we, now?" He was staring at him with a predatory sort of look in his eyes, one that Danny knew quite well by now.

"No, no, no – don't do that," Danny warned, turning away from him and walking away. "You're not doing that _thing_ to me – nonono."

"What 'thing'? – I'm just looking at you." Merritt said with an affected look of mocking confusion.

"No, you're not," Danny said, stopping and looking back at him. "I've been watching you for a year. I know all of your little… _tricks_."

"Is that what they are to you – tricks?" Merritt said amusedly, thinking of something entirely different than mentalism – and the other three likely on the same page as him.

"Yes; it's _gimmicks_ ," Danny said dismissively, like it was the obvious answer. "It's Barnum statements. It's reading the eyes, body language – I get it."

"If it's such an easy thing, then why don't you do…Henley?" Merritt suggested, looking back at where she'd appeared in the open doorway.

"Yeah, Danny!" Henley agreed with a tilt of her head and a purposely mocking edge to her voice. "Why don't you do _me_?"

This choice of words was to support the image of Merritt and Henley pushing Danny away – the better to make it that Danny should be jealous. So Danny countered back with, "No, you're too easy." An obvious jab, and one that any listeners – namely Tressler – would be able to grasp.

And now for the flattery of one of his people – "I'll do…Jasmine." He put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him with a smile.

"No," the voice came from the front. They all turned as though surprised to look at Tressler. "Do me."

They glanced at each other, going through their lines of agreeing with the idea as they sat down near the older man.

 _Alright,_ Danny thought, coming to stand in front of Tressler. _Showtime._

 _ **...**_

 **Writing their interrogations was so fun. You probably recognized a few familiar lines if you read my oneshots "That Was Fun" and "Nice Girl" - I loved them so much that I HAD to use them again. ;)**

 **Thoughts, impressions, guesses? Let me know!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	9. Wrapping Up

"Follow me."

The words were only spoken loud enough for the other three Horsemen to hear him as they moved to the back of the stage with a casual confidence. The New Orleans crowd was simultaneously cheering at them and booing Tressler while the Horsemen taunted him. Merritt was saying something about leaving the car and the jet for him, and they waited by the ropes to make their grand exit. Jack fist bumped Danny as he was joined at his side, wishing he could kiss him but knowing they had to keep up appearances still. Merritt then went to the rope beside Henley, giving her a high-five and grabbing his rope. He laughed softly at Rhodes as the man began running down the aisle toward the stage, seeing Danny wave smugly out of the corner of his eye, and then –

 _"Freeze!"_

"We are the Four Horsemen!" they all chorused, the microphones still on but heard by few people in the audience over the shouts. Rhodes jumped on stage, and was tackled by the hypnotized audience members just before he got to Danny. "Good night!"

And then they were carried up and away, escaping the chaos below them.

They landed on the catwalk above the stage, instantly moving to follow Jack as had been directed in the beginning. Jack was the best at evasion, at escaping his pursuers, after having lived on the streets, and he was the best choice at getting them out of there before they separated to do their own duties.

Jack led them down the fire escape a couple of floors, and then across rooftops and down quiet streets. He was glad they were all fairly fast runners, so that he could go as fast as they needed to.

"Go, go go!" Jack ordered when they got into the crowds. He ducked over to the dumpster he'd stashed a cop uniform behind, while Merritt and Henley ran toward the FBI truck and Danny caught Agent Dray's attention and ran through the crowd just fast enough that she could never quite reach him.

"Go," Merritt panted, leaning against the side of the FBI truck, keeping a lookout for agents. Henley already had the device out of her pocket and instantly attached it to the right of the lock on the truck. A moment later, a beep was barely heard over the sounds of the crowd.

"Got it," she said, grabbing the handle and swinging the door open, finding no agents inside. "Come on."

Merritt closed the door behind them, and Henley grabbed another flash drive from her pocket, plugging it in to the nearest computer.

"I'm almost disappointed – this is just _horrible_ security," Merritt panted, getting his breath back.

"Well, we all agreed that we were insulted by the quality of the handcuffs and their brain power," she commented with a snort, typing the codes she'd gotten from Rhodes' phone into the computer to get the data copying started. "Don't know why this would be any different."

"Turns out I wasn't needed in this chase after all, then," Merritt said wryly, leaning against the door. "All I did was uselessly keep a lookout."

"Are you fishing for compliments, Merritt?" Henley teased, pressing the ENTER button and then leaning back in the chair while the information was copied.

"Just talking to fill the space," Merritt said nonchalantly with a smile.

Henley smiled in response, smile fading into worry in a moment. Sighing, she said, "Now we're _really_ fugitives. There's no going back from this – they have _proof_ now."

"Not having cold feet now, are you?" Merritt asked, pushing himself up to stand completely again.

"No," Henley said honestly. "It's just…hitting me. I mean, we're in a federal vehicle, hacking into their property and stealing it all, while the other half of us is getting chased down by federal agents. We've already stolen a hundred and forty-three million dollars and Euros combined, and it's not just U.S. law enforcement that's trying to catch us. This is international. When I decided 'to hell with it' and let my curiosity lead me to New York last March, I certainly wouldn't have expected to be on the FBI's Most Wanted a year later."

"Well, you did meet _us_ , though," Merritt reminded her, sitting in the empty seat beside her and putting a hand on her knee, rubbing it softly with his thumb. "So it wasn't all for nothing. And in a few days, we'll finally see what the hell all of this was all about."

Henley was smiling again as she leaned over and gave Merritt a fond kiss. "Hm – that's true," she agreed when she pulled back.

"Also," Merritt said with a teasing grin, "We're not on the FBI's Most Wanted."

"Not _yet_ , anyway," Henley said, pulling away when the computer made a sound to signal the copy was complete. She pulled the flash drive from the computer and stood up. "Come on – let's go before the agents realize they were set up."

"Aw – but I could have some fun with them," Merritt complained good-naturedly as he opened the door and let Henley out first.

"But wouldn't you rather have some fun with your three soulmates?" Henley said, turning her head and giving him a suggestive little smirk.

"You sly little devil," Merritt chuckled as she made her way through the crowd, letting him close the door behind them and grab the device next to the lock before following after her.

…

"Finally!" Danny exclaimed when they all met at the private airstrip. Jack was standing next to him, looking both irritated and worried simultaneously. "I was starting to think you guys had gotten caught!"

Merritt scoffed. "Please," he said, slinging an arm around Henley's shoulders. "We're masters at what we do. And the FBI are morons."

"There was _no one_ still at the truck," Henley elaborated with a roll of her eyes. "Good thing, too, since we're not even using any of the information we grabbed."

"Except for there to be a reason why we have the Elkorn file," Danny reminded her.

Henley shrugged. "I'm sure they've figured out by now that we've got someone else planning this – they're just too focused on us to worry about the 'fifth Horseman' at the moment. Did you make sure our bags got here?"

"Yeah, they're all on the jet – they're just waiting for us to get on." Danny said as they began walking out to the tarmac.

"The perks of having a private jet," Merritt said with a smirk.

"And that we already got Tressler to pay for it," Henley said with a laugh. "We'll be up in the air before he'll remember to call the pilot to tell him not to fly us."

"If he does, there's still hypnotism," Merritt waved that away as the jet came into view, the steps already pulled out for them to climb aboard. "And speaking of the mind arts – Jack, you haven't said a word since we got here. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Jack muttered, sending a glare at Danny's back that Merritt caught.

"Daniel, are you being mean to Jackie boy again?" Merritt said teasingly.

"No, I'm not, and I resent the implication that any reason for Jack's upset should have something to do with something _I_ did." Danny said irritably as they got onto the jet.

"Hm – so someone _else_ did something," Merritt deduced while Henley told the pilot they were ready for takeoff. "So why are you upset at Danny boy, Jackie-O?"

"Don't call me that," Jack grouched, flopping himself onto the couch and folding his arms, not looking at any of them.

"Oh, really mature," Danny rolled his eyes, sitting in the seat across the aisle. Henley sat next to him, while Merritt remained standing, folding his arms and watching the scene unfold from the doorway. "And here you're always saying that you want to be treated more like an adult – why don't you start acting like it?"

"Don't even start on me, Daniel," Jack said venomously, surprising everyone as it was least common for Jack to use the full name. "You have no idea…"

"What?" Danny interrupted. "What don't I know? Because from where I'm sitting, you are being a petulant, immature _child_ who didn't get his way. So if there's something I don't know, please _do_ enlighten me."

"A _child_?" Jack exclaimed, sitting up and pointing a finger at Danny. "So it's only _children_ who care when someone they love is put in danger? Because if so, then I may as well be an infant!"

"Danger?" Henley repeated confusedly. "Jack, Danny is fine. We all got away fine."

"Yes!" Danny exclaimed, pointing at Henley. " _Exactly_ my point! Nothing happened, I'm fine, and I really wish I hadn't said anything because you're making it into a _lot_ bigger deal than it was!"

"You could have been caught!" Jack shouted, rising quickly to his feet and standing over the older man. "Or worse, _killed_! And you're acting like it was _nothing_ , like it doesn't matter that you could've _died_!"

"It _was_ nothing!" Danny shot right back, getting to his feet as well. "My hands were up, I had no weapon on me, I wasn't running – it wasn't _legal_ to shoot me! Nothing would've happened!"

Jack's hands were clenched in fists. "That is _not_ the point, and you _know_ it," he hissed. "Even law enforcement doesn't always follow the law in the heat of the moment – they make mistakes, and she may not have known all of the American laws and shot you. There were _so_ many things that could've gone wrong, and you're acting like almost getting shot is just another boring old thing that happens every day for you!"

"What do you want me to say?" Danny said frustratedly, waving his hands expressively. "Yes, I could've been shot. Yes, I could've just been caught. I _know_ that – I was _there_. Do you want me to be catatonic about it? Do you want me to panic? Because it didn't happen, I'm fine, and there's nothing to worry about."

Jack let out a heavy sigh, anger fading as he leaned forward a bit, resting his forehead on Danny's shoulder and wrapping his arms around his waist.

"Then don't tell me stuff like that," he muttered after a moment. "Because you're more logical than I am, and I'll be the one to just start panicking if you tell me shit like that again. If I don't need to know, don't tell me – for the sake of my sanity, at least."

"Well, Henley always says that even the best parts about me can cause people to go insane," Danny huffed a laugh, awkwardly hugging Jack back.

"Ain't that the truth," Merritt agreed. "Now, I want in on this hug. I don't like the thought of you almost getting shot any more than Jack does."

"Same," Henley concurred, joining the other three boys in the hug. "Now, what say we move to the back room and bring this hug in a bit closer?"

…

"It's time."

Danny's voice sounded through the quiet, tense room – the room they'd all met in for the first time.

They all glanced around at each other solemnly, hearts beating a little faster as they realized that this was it. The final act was coming to a close in less than twelve hours, and the events happening now could make or break them.

"Let's do it, then," Henley said, spinning the desk chair back around to the desk. Danny walked away from the window and to the center of the room where there was less clutter on the floor, dropping Rhode's phone to the ground and stomping on it once to destroy it beyond costly repair.

"The firewall's down," Henley called suddenly. "Do they know about this?"

"They, who?" Danny said absently, dropping the phone on a crate and gathering papers together in a file.

"They – them – whoever we're working for!" Henley said more irritably than she might have, worried as she was about the plan going forth.

"Who _are_ we working for?" Merritt voiced the question for the millionth time, bringing over a bunch of papers that needed destroying. "And are we prepared to go to jail for them?"

"Okay, stop being paranoid," Danny rebuked, feeling worried about jail as well and finding Merritt the perfect one to chastise for feeling the same way.

"It really _does_ happen," Merritt insisted.

"Yeah, it happened to _you_ – it doesn't mean it's gonna happen to us," Danny asserted.

"Yeah – none of us are selling each other out," Henley said, voice irritated even as she reassured them. "Any one of us goes down, and the other three are following."

"Guys, I don't know if I can do this," Jack said worriedly, accepting the papers Danny handed him. "I don't want to go to jail, you know?"

"Then don't screw up!" Danny said firmly, turning to face him. "Now might be a good time to start _acting_ like an adult – stick to the plan!" He handed him another stack of papers. "Stay here, and burn it all."

"I meant, what if I'm not good enough to get away from the Feds?" Jack pressed on worriedly, gathering more of the papers lying around the room. "What if I end up getting arrested before I can even find an FBI-issued car? Or if I end up getting hurt during the fight that I _can't_ get away? I don't want everyone else to go to jail because I wasn't good enough."

Henley opened her mouth, no doubt to reassure him of his abilities, but Danny beat her to it.

"You're right," he said musingly, squatting down and grabbing some more papers that had slipped to the floor. "I mean, you are the youngest of everyone, and even though you're the most skilled at fighting and evasion, Henley is probably better with escape artistry. If we got Henley to replace you in the fight, we could just grab the wig we were going to use for the third act, and maybe the smoke from the burning car can disguise the body enough that someone would be fooled it was her."

Jack opened and closed his mouth in surprise, not having expected this suggestion, but a moment later, he shook his head. "No – no one would ever believe we'd leave the woman behind to destroy everything. They'd know it was a set up."

"Hm – true," Danny said, rising to his feet and straightening the papers, eyes far away as he lost himself in his thoughts, thinking of an alternative. "Merritt could do it, then – maybe hypnotize the agents but get himself seen on the way out of the building."

"They've seen how good he is at mentalism – they would never expect him to just run away," Jack countered. "And I look _nothing_ like Merritt – even less than Henley. The corpse in the car wouldn't match."

"Well…how about _I_ do it, then?" Danny suggested, finally looking at him with a nonchalant expression. "I'm a decent enough fighter, and the wig would be even more believable than Henley's on the corpse."

"Leaving the 'leader' behind to do the grunt work is even less believable than leaving Henley behind," Jack said dryly. Then he sighed. "Fine, fine – I'll do it. Don't think I don't understand what you just did to me there, Mr. Mentalism-Is-Nothing-More-Than-Tricks. But I get it – I'm the best option for the job; you win."

"That's the spirit," Merritt congratulated with a grin, clapping him on the shoulder while Danny moved to gather papers again with a now satisfied expression on his face. "Don't listen to my paranoia – you're the best fighter out of all of us."

"Thanks," Jack smiled a bit, pressing quick a kiss to Merritt's lips.

"Although in retrospect, I don't know what I'm doing here," Merritt commented, moving to grab another stack of papers by the window.

"Well, I don't know what you would do anywhere else!" Danny called back, irritation spiking – he'd only _just_ got Jack calmed down, and he really didn't need Merritt adding anymore ideas into his head.

"I'm only here because all you guys are, and I sure as hell ain't leaving you guys alone," Merritt shook his head, slamming his stack of papers on the crate near the middle of the room. "Why don't we just say 'to hell with it' and run away? I hear Tasmania is lovely this time of year."

"We've come this far already – we're already wanted fugitives!" Henley said irritably. "We can do whatever we want when this is over, but until then, _stick to the plan_." Merritt put up his hands in surrender, arguing no further.

"Hey, guys?" Danny's voice was quiet as he looked out the window. "Uh…they're here."

The tense atmosphere thickened immediately, and now it wasn't just Jack who was nervous.

"Let's do this," Merritt finally said, grabbing his bag from where it sat against the wall. He grabbed Henley's and passed it over to her while Danny grabbed his and slung it over one shoulder.

"Be careful, Jack," Merritt said with a clap to his shoulder on his way past him. Then he paused, hand still on Jack's shoulder, and turned to him. He quickly tilted his head down, pressing his lips quickly to Jack's before making his way out of the room.

Jack blinked in surprise. Much like Danny, Merritt was hardly one to initiate affectionate contact, but clearly the older man was more nervous about this than he was letting on. Jack was smiling as Henley pressed her lips to his without a word before following Merritt out the door.

Danny looked uncertain, but like he wanted to kiss Jack as well, and Jack remembered suddenly how Danny's name curled slightly on all of them, like he was hesitant about showing affection, lest he be pushed away. Although he showed it in different ways, he clearly cared for them all – as seen when he let them make their own deductions about their abilities, as he had minutes before while Jack was worrying. But, even after all this time, he still felt awkward initiating any form of affection, even for how he now more easily accepted it.

So, he didn't allow for Danny to walk out behind Henley. He took a couple of steps closer to him, grabbed the front of his shirt, and pressed a hard but thorough kiss to his lips.

"Be safe," Danny urged quietly after they'd pulled back. "I know you're the best one for this, but I _do_ still have some concerns about this plan."

Jack smiled softy and gently tugged a lock of Danny's hair. "I'll be alright," he tried to reassure himself as well as Danny. "You just make sure you're focused on your part, alright?"

Danny accepted these instructions with another kiss to his lips, before saying, "If you make it through this intact, we'll all fuck you into next Tuesday, in whatever position you want."

Jack smirked at the uncharacteristic sex talk from his soulmate. "Well, with encouragement like that, I'll certainly try my best."

...

 **Thanks for reading!**


	10. The Final Touches

**Yes, this took two weeks to post since the last chapter, and you guys have never waited long for this story, but I was stuck on how to have Dylan find out they're all soulmates in the same meeting in Central Park and it just didn't flow right, so I just gave up on that and pushed them on the carousel. I may have an omake in the last chapter, but I can't decide. *shrug***

 **...**

Henley paced back and forth in the warehouse they'd had rented for a month, waiting for news of what happened with Jack. They'd seen the news on TV of Jack's demise, but they'd feel a whole lot better after he called and assured them he was alright. They knew he was alive of course, but they still didn't know what injuries he might have sustained in the fight with the FBI agents and getting away. They didn't know if he'd be able to carry a bunch of bags of money in the small window of time they had to do this. It was almost five o' clock now – everything had to be set up and ready to go in two hours and they just needed to know if Jack was okay.

It was Merritt's cell phone that rang, and Henley practically snatched it from his hands when Merritt picked it up and answered it, putting it on speaker.

"Jack?" he said immediately.

"I'm fine," came Jack's instant response. "A little bruised and sore, but I'll be okay to do my part. How are things on your guys' end?"

"We're good here," Danny said. "We got the mirror down on Elkorn – did you get the blow torch and things you needed for the safe?"

"Yup," Jack replied. "I'm ready to go whenever you're ready."

"I'll make the call now then," Merritt said. "See you in a few hours, Jackie-O."

"Stop calling me that!" Jack reprimanded, but they could all hear the smile in his voice that said he wasn't really offended.

"Be careful, Jack!" Henley called.

"Always," Jack said, and hung up the phone.

"Well," Merritt said with a smile, "Let's blow this popsicle stand."

…

Jack watched the Elkorn storage unit as the FBI agents went in, and a few minutes later came running out in a panic after the truck that was just driving away. He laughed softly, noticing that one agent that had gone in hadn't come back out, and supposed that one of Merritt's trigger words must have been activated. He knew from Merritt that Beethoven's Concerto in D Major could go anywhere between a half hour and forty-five minutes, so he knew he should have enough time.

After the Feds had all driven away, he grabbed a couple of the duffle bags he'd brought with him and pulled the hood up on his jacket, walking confidently into the storage room and passing the FBI agent 'playing violin' without care.

Several minutes later, he was glad he'd decided to go with the U-Haul to carry the money, because there was no way in hell he would have been able to get it all, otherwise.

It was about half past six when he found the car he was supposed to stuff all the money in. Working quickly, he tore off the plastic wrap packing the money into cubes and began stuffing it into every space he could find. The car would have to be stuffed to the brim to be able to fit all the money, so he couldn't afford to pass over spaces like the glove box or underneath the seats. He rigged the wires so that as soon as the car was unlocked, all of the doors would pop open and the car would go into panic mode. Just in case.

He shut the door twenty minutes later, checking his watch and seeing he should get out of there, before the show started and the place was crawling with Feds.

On his way out of 5Pointz, he passed the truck they'd used as a misdirection, seeing the agents and Bradley and his team watching just as the safe was opened. He laughed and pressed harder on the gas pedal, getting a bit away before leaving the U-Haul at the side of the road. Someone would pick it up at some point, long after the Four Horsemen had disappeared.

He hopped the fence into Central Park about an hour later, sitting down on a bench and pulling out his phone. Going to a news site broadcasting a repeat of the final performance, he smiled as he saw the three of them wrapping it up.

" _Good night, New York!"_

" _And thank you, for believing in us!"_

He couldn't help the grin that appeared on his face as he watched the playback of his three soulmates jumping off the building and disappearing in an explosion of fake hundred dollar bills. Even knowing how they did it still gave him a thrill. And clearly they'd gotten away fine, or there would have been news everywhere of how they'd at last been arrested.

He chuckled to himself and put the phone away, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees while he waited for the other three to show up.

Yes, they were very good. He would have to thank whoever gave them the cards that made it possible for them to meet, because it sure had been one hell of a ride.

…

Dylan had to work to keep the satisfaction off his face as he stepped inside the cell Bradley was held in, and the guards locked the door behind him. Bradley had of course insisted he was innocent, which he technically was, but Dylan had practiced long at playing the fool, at being underestimated, so he was going to draw out Bradley's confusion.

Bradley was smug in his assumed superiority as he began explaining exactly what he'd figured out about how the Horsemen did their tricks. Dylan would have been pissed off at how Bradley kept enunciating how the FBI and he specifically had been fooled, but he knew that it would only make it so much sweeter when Bradley crashed back down to Earth and realized how truly ignorant he was.

He protested exactly where he was expected to, letting Bradley have his moment of thinking he knew everything that Dylan didn't, and waited for that perfect moment.

And finally, it came.

"See, I finally got a chance to really look into Lionel Shrike," he said. "His comeback attempt, his accident. The insurer who denied the family's claim? Tressler Insurance." He felt that regular spike of anger when he remembered Arthur Tressler, but now it was accompanied by the triumphant feel from getting back at him and avenging the wrongs committed to him and his mother.

He continued, "The bank that carried the note? Credit Republican of Paris." If Bradley really was as smart as he claimed, it would be moments until it finally hit him. "What do you make of that?"

Bradley sighed and rolled his eyes away from him. "A sucker _is_ born every minute," he said s though scolding him.

"So, here's my new theory," Dylan said, coaching the pretense and the act along further. "The legend is that the Eye is everywhere – waiting, for the _truly_ great magicians to distinguish themselves from the mediocre ones. Maybe that was you." He looked Bradley in the eyes, somewhat surprised that Bradley couldn't see the hateful venom he was sure would show in his eyes. He'd had a long time thinking about this, and he was fairly certain his assumptions about this were right.

"Deep down inside, you wanted nothing more than to be a part of the Eye but you were never invited." He pressed on, a trace of anger leaking into his voice. "So you try to destroy them. But instead, what happens? _You pissed them off_."

Oh, he was certainly pissed off. He wasn't part of every facet of the Eye, but he'd had the go-ahead from the people who did have more say, who'd been there longer, and it was this that let him know the rest of the Eye was upset one of their own had been destroyed by a charlatan as well.

Bradley had that condescending look on his face again as he spoke, getting closer to him with folded arms. "The Eye – _isn't_ – _**real**_."

"Okay, then explain then," Dylan shot back. "Who's behind all this?"

"Somebody with an obsession – meticulous!" Bradley said, looking frustrated and cornered.

" _Who_?" Dylan pressed, knowing that the man would get there eventually.

"Somebody prepared to sacrifice _everything_ ," Bradley said, and Dylan couldn't help his satisfaction beginning to creep onto his face, but he quickly tamped it back down. He wanted the older man to come to the realization on his own. "Somebody _so_ prepared to lose, that they wouldn't even be a suspect until the trick was done."

"I don't need a profile – I need a _name_ ," Dylan insisted, leaning in closer. "Who? _Who?_ "

"I don't _know '_ _ **who**_ _'_!" Bradley said, even more frustrated than before, and Dylan relished in it. "But they had to have access to the warehouse – plant the mirrors." He turned away and went to the bars, resting a fist on one, and Dylan knew it was time to get out of the cell, because he was _almost there_. "Always a step ahead of me." After a moment, he added in remembrance, " _And_ the FBI. Got past them not once – not _twice_! – but consistently. _Almost_ as if they were on the in…"

Dylan watched with a vindictive smile on his face as he saw Bradley's profile, saw from the side as the man finally connected all the dots. As the man turned to look back into the cell, where he'd been standing just moments before, he moved to stand right on the other side of the bars, right behind Bradley.

"The inside," Dylan said softly, his voice echoing around the empty space as he finally let his mask drop, letting Bradley see his satisfaction and pleasure as he turned back around at the sound of his voice.

Bradley took a couple of steps closer, his expression helpless as he realized what he was truly up against. "You," he breathed in realization. Dylan hummed slightly in affirmation, nodding his head ever so slightly. After a moment of continuing to gaze at him, Bradley followed up with, "Why?"

"That is the question, isn't it?" Dylan said, because he wasn't going to prod him along with this one. He didn't care whether or not Bradley knew who he was, so he wasn't going to waste his time.

"You're right," he said of his earlier comments. "I can't tell you how _long_ I've waited to see the look on your face."

Bradley's expression was completely lost, and Dylan couldn't help his small smile at his confusion. "Who are you?" the man asked him, because Dylan looked more like his mother than his father, so of course Bradley would never recognize him on facial features alone. "What do you want from me?"

"What do I want?" Dylan repeated, ignoring the first question. "I want you to spend the rest of your life in this cell, staring at four walls and wondering how you missed it." Of course, he meant 'this cell' metaphorically – this was just a holding area, but it would be to a real jail cell for him soon.

He continued driving the nail in deeper with, "How you let yourself be so blinded by your ego that you convinced yourself that you were one step ahead when you were _always_ two steps behind."

He stepped back from the cell, away and to the hall again. He didn't need to say anymore – he'd gotten his revenge, and he'd seen Bradley broken down just how he'd always had nightmares about his father being broken after his career was destroyed and he'd felt the need to pull that trick that killed him in the end.

"Dylan?" Bradley's voice was confused behind him, and he ignored it. He needed no more. "Wait a minute…"

He began loosening his tie, because this was it. He had finished his revenge plot, and while he was still technically an FBI agent, he didn't have to play the fool at this moment. He didn't have to be the sloppily dressed, bumbling federal employee – he could be more than just Dylan Rhodes now.

"Dylan! How did this happen?!"

He dropped his tie to the ground, remembering how he'd left the cards with the four people he'd expected to be able to pull off the instructions – the people he'd watched for months before dropping the cards where they'd be sure to find them.

"Dylan!" Bradley sounded angry now, and he could only smile as he heard the desperation in his voice. "Why? _Why?!_ "

He was proud of his Horsemen. And he would be telling them just that in a couple of hours in Central Park.

And then… He looked down at his wrist, where the edge of a 'Y' peeked out from underneath his watch. Then he would make a trip to Paris.

…

It was almost two o' clock when Jack heard voices approaching, and he grinned when he heard Merritt's voice above the others. He rose to his feet and moved toward the gate, just in time to hear Henley say, "It's locked."

"Weren't you guys listening?" Jack teased, because they clearly hadn't seen him. "Nothing's ever locked."

Henley began clapping as a grin formed on her face, the light of the flashlight going everywhere with her movements. "Well done, Mr. Wilder!" she congratulated, "Good work!" He huffed a little laugh as he pulled out his lock picking tools from his jacket to get rid of the lock.

"You're a big boy now, Jack!" Merritt said humorously, and was the first to reach over and tug him into a kiss when the gate had been opened.

"Well, I'd certainly hope so," Jack huffed as though put upon, but he was still grinning. "Otherwise our bedroom activities would be a huge cause for concern. Took you guys long enough to get here, by the way – I was starting to wonder if you'd been caught!"

"Oh, ye of little faith," Henley teased, leaning over for her own kiss.

"Here – we got some food," Danny said, handing over a protein bar.

"Thank god – I'm _starving_ ," Jack said gratefully, taking the bar and unwrapping it quickly.

"Yeah, we didn't think through the whole food thing," Henley admitted with a shrug. "Honestly, I was too excited to feel hungry."

"Yeah – we can finally find out what the hell all of this was for," Jack agreed through his mouthful of food as they began walking down the sidewalk.

"Well, we know it's something to do with Lionel Shrike," Danny reminded them. "But as far as who is behind _that_ …"

"I don't see anyone here, though," Henley said, glancing around as though someone would pop out of the bushes and reveal themselves as the mastermind behind it all. "And the blueprints said to meet here at two…"

"Well, it's technically still five minutes till two," Jack said, though even he was uncertain as they saw no evidence of life anywhere around them. "So we've still got time."

"What if all of this was just leading up to us getting mugged in Central Park at 2 am?" Merritt drawled pessimistically.

"No, I'm telling you, we're right where we need to be," Danny said with utter conviction, shining his flashlight about. "We just need to find…"

"That?"

They all turned to see what Henley was pointing her flashlight at, and they all felt relief at finally finding some evidence that this wasn't all just a scam.

"The Lionel Shrike tree," Danny said.

"And the card encased in glass," Henley said with a smile, her voice filled with awe.

After a moment, Merritt was the one to voice what they were all thinking. "What do we do now?"

They'd found the tree. Clearly it held some importance, because they'd stopped believing in coincidences long ago. But the instructions in their blueprints had ended with the directive to be in Central Park after the New York show. They didn't know what was expected of them now – an odd feeling, after they'd had instructions for every part of this plan for the past year.

Henley was the one to get the right idea – and on the first try. She pulled out her tarot card, because even after being handled and kept in her pocket almost every day for the past year, it didn't look worn down. It was more like a computer chip of some sorts than a playing card.

The rest of them pulled out their own cards, and some sort of magnet inside them all joined them together, and became a new card entirely. As she was the one holding the pile of cards that was clearly a type of key, Henley followed her instinct and waved the Eye the pictures created over the card encased in glass.

They were startled away from their awe of the card lighting up when they heard music suddenly start up in the distance – odd music, like it belonged at a carnival.

"Yeah, because _that's_ not creepy as hell," Merritt muttered, but he walked with the rest of them toward the music, anyway.

And then, they rounded the corner, and the carousel blaring the music came into view, along with a very familiar form standing in front of it.

"Oh, _my_ god," Merritt was the one to say, his voice stunned as Dylan Rhodes' face became visible in the lighting. "I did _not_ see that coming. That's impossible!"

Henley only laughed, but she couldn't say anything, so great was her surprise. She noticed how Rhodes looked different now – he carried himself differently, with a bit more confidence rather than the usual bumbling foolishness. She thought his hair might even be a bit different, but that could just be the late hour – or early, depending on how one looked at it. It was immediately clear that the blundering FBI agent act was just that – an act. In an instant, her mind was going through all of the times they'd crossed paths, looking for something that would have clued to his involvement with this, but she could think of nothing. He was way too good, and none of them had had any idea.

"No way," Jack was the next one able to speak through his astonishment.

"That was actually, uh…pretty good," Danny conceded, his voice letting on just enough that they could all tell he was admiring as he turned off his flashlight.

"Thank you," Rhodes said with a smile, and Henley noticed how even his voice was different. It may have been because he was usually annoyed or panicking when she heard him speak, but she thought it was mostly that for the moment he had dropped his FBI agent persona.

"When I said to always be the smartest guy in the room…" Danny trailed off, and the other three snorted at the comment, because it _was_ something Danny would say.

"We were in agreement," Rhodes said amusedly. Danny nodded thoughtfully, and Rhodes turned his gaze to Henley.

"Henley," he greeted, and she could only look at him, still astonished at how well he'd pulled all this off that none had suspected it.

"I have never seen her speechless," she heard Danny say, and she was about to slap him when she saw Rhodes only smiled at the comment.

"I take that as a huge compliment," he said, reaching out a hand, and she shook it, deciding to not even bother trying to speak at this point.

"Hey, man," Jack said, voice a little nervous, and she looked at him curiously, wondering what he was worried about. "I am _so_ sorry for kicking your ass – really."

Rhodes laughed a bit at the apology, looking unbothered at the memory and the evidence on one cheek and his neck of Jack's throwing cards at his face. So at least they knew he wasn't upset about what they'd gotten up to with him.

"So, what happens now?" Merritt was the one to ask what they were all thinking.

"Now, you're in," Rhodes said, and no one could miss the proud look on his face as he nodded his head toward the carousel, directing them to follow him. "The real magic is taking four strong solo acts and making them all work together." He opened the gate to the carousel and went in, still with that proud look on his face. "And that's exactly what you did.

"So…welcome to the Eye."

He hopped onto the carousel, looking at them as a wordless directive to follow, and they all smiled at each other; Merritt took Henley's hand and Jack took Danny's and Danny took Henley's, and they all reveled in their togetherness and success for a moment before they jumped on behind him, ready for their next adventure.

 **...**

 **This is not the end! There will be at least one more chapter, with a possible additional epilogue where Dylan will find out about them, but I haven't decided. But Dylan's going to Paris now! :)**


	11. Paris

"It _was_ all connected."

Alma startled at the familiar voice next to her, and she looked up from her newspaper to see Dylan sitting there, looking a lot more put-together than he normally did. The scruffy beard was gone, and the small stubble that _was_ there gave him a more dignified look than he'd likely been going for as an FBI agent.

"Credit Republican, Tressler Insurance…" he finally looked at her, and with a slight teasing attitude, he said, " _Bonjour_."

She laughed a bit and smiled fondly. " _Bonjour_ ," she echoed. After a moment, she glanced back at the newspaper with the spread on Lionel Shrike and went on, "And Elkorn? What is their connection to Shrike?"

Dylan looked distinctly nervous, but determined to tell her the truth this time. As he explained about the safe and how Elkorn had made a faulty one that he'd used, she listened sympathetically, and finally revealed that she knew who he was.

"He was your father," she said simply. She understood; she knew where he was coming from and why he wanted his revenge. She wasn't going to hold it against him.

He explained about the day that Lionel Shrike had died, and she felt another pang of sympathy for him at the pain in his eyes – though it seemed more muted now than it had during the case. She figured this was likely because the Four Horsemen had been able to go through with the plan. During the case, she could understand why he would be so high-strung when those were his people out there, and there was so much riding on everything going just right.

"…I planned, I worked out every detail, but the one thing that I…couldn't imagine happening – was you." Dylan finished, and she could never mistake the fondness in his eyes that he finally showed freely.

"I had hoped that you would figure out whatever you needed to soon," Alma admitted, folding the paper in half and setting it next to her.

"New Orleans – that's when you figured it out, wasn't it?" Dylan guessed.

"Yes," Alma acknowledged. "You weren't very subtle hiding your watch from me, no?"

"No," Dylan conceded with a small, self-deprecating smile, and Alma's eyes went down to where he'd worn the watch before.

"May I see?" she requested, holding out a hand, and he allowed it, extending his arm and turning it so that his wrist was visible.

A delicate finger traced along the inky letters that spelled out _Alma Dray_. She had seen part of the letters that night at the New Orleans show, and it had been easy to put the pieces together from there. His name, _Dylan Shrike_ , was lettered along her side, after all.

"I understand why you did what you did," Alma said at last, releasing her grasp on his wrist and shifting instead so that she was clasping one hand in hers. "But perhaps it would have made it easier to bring me in on it, no?"

"Well, it certainly would have saved me from having to yell at you to keep my cover," Dylan said, squeezing her hand in wordless apology. "I wasn't sure by then if you knew, though."

"Well, after I _did_ figure it out, your immediate dislike for me made sense," Alma said with a smile. "But you _were_ right – I asked for the case. I was hoping that I might be able to meet my soulmate – I knew Shrike's story, and I thought there might be a chance his son would be involved in it somehow. And, it worked."

"Hope it wasn't too big of a disappointment," Dylan laughed a bit, but she could see in his eyes that he was uncertain, his words only half-joking.

She leaned forward, pressing a chaste kiss to his stubbly cheek. "No," she said fondly. "It turned out perfectly."

…

"So, am I going to get to meet these Horsemen properly, then?" Alma asked him a couple of hours later as they walked hand-in-hand along the river. "They know who you are now, _oui_?"

"Yes," Dylan said with a chuckle. "To both questions. They're not so irritating when they're not _trying_ to piss you off."

"I can imagine," Alma agreed with an amused smile. "Did you tell them we were soulmates before coming?"

"Henley practically shoved me out the door," Dylan said with a laugh as he remembered the Horsemen's reactions. "And the others just looked on in complete agreement. They wanted to meet you properly, too."

"Did Mr. Atlas and McKinney ever resolve their problems?" Alma asked curiously a bit later. "I would have thought one of them would run from the rest of the group after their acts were over, so there might not be so much tension."

Dylan's face transformed into a broad grin. "There never actually _were_ any problems," he confided. "That was a bit of an act to help Atlas, but all four of them are each others' soulmates."

Alma stopped short in surprise, causing Dylan to stop before he went ahead of her. "Really?" she said in shock. "That is amazing."

Dylan nodded. "I had watched them for _months_ before recruiting them, and I still had no idea," he admitted. "I underestimated them – _all_ of them."

Alma began walking again, processing these words. "But how would the act help Mr. Atlas?" she finally questioned with a frown of bewilderment.

Dylan winced slightly at the question. He knew the answer, and he knew that the Horsemen knew that he knew, but Danny hadn't ever actually said that it was alright for Alma to know, and he wouldn't want to risk breaking their trust now – not so early into a relationship. "Ah…you'll have to ask them that. It's not really my place to tell."

Alma nodded in understanding. "I will," she said. "Although perhaps I should wait until they like me a bit more before asking that they trust me with one of their secrets."

Dylan smiled fondly at this comment, and reached down to clasp her hand in his, fingers intertwining. "Sounds good to me," he agreed.

"Now," Alma said, changing the subject. "We can talk about the Horsemen on our way back to America. For now, we are in Paris, and I've always wanted to show my soulmate some of my favorite spots." She smiled up at him in excitement.

Dylan smiled contentedly at her and leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips before nodding in the direction ahead of them. "Lead the way, _mademoiselle_."

…

 **Whew! That's it! I'm done! Thank you to everyone favorite, followed, and reviewed – I hope you guys enjoyed this! Thanks for reading!**


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